Mistaken
Title: Mistaken
Author: Raven jaded_icy_rose
Rating: R
Warnings: Language, Violence
Summary: After one night of pure passion, they wake up together. Chapter Twenty-Four: Harry has to confront a former enemy, a man that he once promised to loathe because his best friend brings him into his house, while Hermione finally wakes up.
Disclaimer: Thanks to JKR for letting me borrow them, sadly, I don’t own them.
A/N: And I give a gift to all my readers! Hehe, a new chappy!
Side Note: I wanted to let you all know that I have edited the story a little. I've taken a section from a previous chapter, deleted it and put it in here. It just works better and I talked it over with my beta ^_^ So I didn't want some of you going "didn't we already read this?" lol. So Enjoy!
Mistaken, Prologue
Mistaken, Chapter One
Mistaken, Chapter Two
Mistaken, Chapter Three
Mistaken, Chapter Four
Mistaken, Chapter Five
Mistaken, Chapter Six
Mistaken, Chapter Seven
Mistaken, Chapter Eight
Mistaken, Chapter Nine
Mistaken, Chapter Ten
Mistaken, Chapter Eleven
Mistaken, Chapter Twelve
Mistaken, Chapter Thirteen
Mistaken, Chapter Fourteen
Mistaken, Chapter Fifteen
Mistaken, Chapter Sixteen
Mistaken, Chapter Seventeen
Mistaken, Chapter Eighteen
Mistaken, Chapter Nineteen
Mistaken, Chapter Twenty
Mistaken, Chapter Twenty One
Mistaken, Chapter Twenty Two
Mistaken, Chapter Twenty Three
Harry still wasn’t sure he really wanted the blonde arrogant man in his own damn living room but after glancing at the looks on Susan, Ginny and Ron’s faces, he wasn’t sure that he could kick him out. He saw the slight look of disapproval on Lucius’ face. Crossing his arms, he bit into his cheek, trying to keep himself from saying anything. He watched Lucius as the man slowly walked through the room, his eyes darting around the room, taking it all in.
“Are you certain that this is where you live, Potter?” Lucius asked as he tilted his head, placing his cane on the floor, snake head in hand. “I would’ve been sure that you could afford something more than this.”
“Our house is being built, Malfoy.” Harry retorted, “Not that I think it’s any of your business really.” Lucius raised a brow.
“Still as confident as ever,” Lucius allowed a small smirk cross his face as he met Ginny’s gaze, “And apparently you’re well enough to continue your family line, congratulations are in order I assume.” Harry wanted to punch the man through the wall but he retrained himself as he clenched his fist.
“Ronald, can I speak to you for a moment in the back room?” Harry demanded. Ron glanced from Susan, who currently had her arms wrapped around him, to Lucius and then back to Harry. Clearing his throat, he glanced down and nodded slowly.
“Yeah, sure thing, mate,” Ron replied as he turned to Susan, he smiled a little as he leaned forward, touching his forehead to hers. Whispering in her ear, he kissed her cheek gently before he squeezed her hand and walked towards Harry. Looking back at Lucius, Ron sighed as he bit his lower lip.
Harry turned down towards the hallway, not giving Lucius a second look. Turning into a room to the left, Harry watched as Ron walked into the room and Harry gave the door a small shove, slamming it shut. Shutting his eyes for a moment, Harry allowed his hands to unclench as he turned to his best friend.
“How the fuck could you bring him here?” Harry growled.
“Mate, first off, you have to at least try and listen to me.” Ron replied, sitting on the edge of Harry’s desk, when Harry finally sat down, Ron let out a long sigh. “Shortly after Susan slammed me against the wall after that whole disaster I went to a pub and planned on getting rip roaring drunk. I was half-way there when Lucius Malfoy basically kidnapped me and locked me up.”
“He what?” Harry started.
“Yeah, he locked me up. A lot of good it did me because it only pissed me off. He then started talking to me about how I had screwed up everything for Draco and Hermione and how I probably set both of them up for death with the Dark Lord.” Harry’s eyes darkened as Ron looked up, “Yeah, the Dark Lord. Obviously he doesn’t mean Voldemort, I mean you killed him. But there’s a new one, and Lucius knows who it is and he needs our help in helping Draco.”
“Why the hell would I want to help that man in doing anything that involves Draco?” Harry asked, standing up as he turned towards the window, “My only concern was you, and Hermione. Now that we have you, we only need to find her.”
“You’re not listening to me, Harry.” Ron replied, crossing his arms as he stood up, staring a hole into Harry’s back, “Lucius was right when he said that Draco and Hermione were basically tied together. I have no doubt right now that wherever Draco is, Hermione’s there too. And we have to find them both. She’s in love with him, Harry.”
“And what good does that do for her? It’s obviously going to get her killed from what your dear friend Lucius has to say.” Harry growled. Staring down, he leaned against the window frame, “What could Lucius Malfoy possibly have said to you that would’ve made you actually trust him, Ron? Because for the life of me, I don’t know what Lucius Malfoy could ever do to make me trust him.”
“Do you really want to know, Harry?” Ron asked.
“I told you I did, didn’t I?” Harry replied, turning to his friend as their gazes met.
“Well, you better sit down because it’s going to be a long story.” Ron said, sitting down on Harry’s desk as he looked down and crossed his arms.
~*~
“You know, I could really use some water right now,” Ron grumbled as he trudged through the streets with his captor. Who still refused to take off his ridiculous mask and cloak, even though Ron already knew who it was, “Why don’t you just take that ruddy crap off anyway?”
“Why should I?” The man spat back as he held on tightly to Ron’s arm. Ron groaned at the sudden pinch he felt in his arm from the fingers digging into his skin.
“Well, it doesn’t really do you any good to have it on anymore. I know who you are, and it’s not like anyone’s really going to be awake at this hour to see you and scream for their lives. Everyone thinks you’re either dead or being tortured right now, so it’s not like anyone really cares about you either.” Ron argued, trying to make his body just give out so he could take a break.
“That may be true Mr. Weasley but you seem to forget that when I was thought to be alive, I was one of the most feared Death Eaters. Not to mention the fact that I was incredibly talented and no one dare actually challenge me.” His captor glanced around, trying to see if anyone was in fact, walking the streets. When he was satisfied, he pulled the hood from his cloak off, waving his hand over his face, he made the mask disappear.
Scowling down at Ron, he shook his head, “Where did you say this pathetic little hole in the wall was?”
“Still a few blocks ahead, you know, for a pureblood you sure as hell have a crappy attitude towards other purebloods.” Ron retorted, “Why don’t you actually thank me for leading you to someone that can help you save your son.”
Lucius grabbed ahold of Ron’s shirt and slammed him against the wall, “Listen you pathetic Weasley. I can still kill you right here if you don’t do exactly as I tell you to. If it wasn’t for me you’d probably have already lost your dear friend Hermione. It just so happens that she’s the woman my son decided to fall in love with, not that I particularly agree with his tastes right now.” Ron frowned.
“What could Hermione possibly have done to you that makes you hate her so much?” He asked the older man.
“Nothing,” Lucius snarled, “I don’t have to like who my son picks to love. I certainly didn’t make my father jump for joy when I told him that I was going to marry Narcissa, but then he realized what a powerful line the Malfoy’s would become aligned with and it shut him up.” They continued to walk down the narrow alleyways.
“Is that the only reason you married her? For power?” Ron asked, rolling his eyes, “That’s a pathetic reason if you ask me.” Lucius clenched his hand as the redhead continued to move his mouth, “I mean its not like you were actually in love with her or anything, right?”
“Would you just shut your mouth until we get there?” Lucius groaned, “It’s understandable why your wife slammed you against a wall now. It’s not like you married her for love.” It only took that one remark to keep Ron from saying another word, “I may have had one goal in mind when I first began to see Narcissa, but in the end I fell in love with her.” Lucius paused, “And I have no idea why I’m telling you any of this.” He looked towards Ron with a sneer in his eyes, it was then that he saw Ron’s face.
“I had a goal with Hermione,” Ron murmured, “I was going to prove to her that I was all she needed. That being with Draco was nothing but a mistake.” Lucius wanted to strangle the red head because of what he’d done to his son, but he didn’t, “Honestly? I thought Draco to be nothing more than a shadow of his father.” When Ron looked up to Lucius, he had a bit of hatred in his eyes.
“Oh? Well, am I supposed to be taking that as a compliment?” Lucius asked, a bit of a smirk on his face.
“No. Do you know what you put me through while I was at Hogwarts?” Ron asked, “What you put Hermione through? And Harry?” Lucius glanced down, it was the first sign of slight remorse that Ron ever saw from the proud Malfoy.
“I know exactly what I did. And in the end, it cost me my wife.” Lucius replied. “I’m not going to apologize for anything that I’ve said, or even done,” The casual arrogance was back in his face. “What I did then, I believed to be right and then after I was sent to Azkaban and Voldemort never came for me, I began to realize what exactly I was fighting for on his side.” Ron only listened, sliding his hands into his pockets as he leaned against a wall in the alleyway. “The only thing Voldemort had in mind for his cause was domination. He wanted to rule the world and kill everyone who opposed him. He wasn’t going to give me the riches he promised, and he wasn’t going to make sure that my family was more powerful then ever. So I turned against him.”
“How?” Ron asked.
“I did the one thing that would hurt Voldemort the most. I turned my son against him by means of Narcissa. Narcissa would do anything to protect Draco, so in Azkaban I managed to send a letter by means of a Dementor to Voldemort, suggesting that my son be the one to kill Dumbledore.” Lucius explained.
“You set Draco up?”
“Yes, and I figured that Narcissa would immediately go to Severus Snape for protection of Draco, and I was right.” Lucius fought back the tears, “What I didn’t expect was that Severus would figure it all out and turn against Narcissa, and end up killing her.” Ron raised a brow.
“It was reported that Narcissa killed herself.” He recalled.
“That would be the most obvious thing to do, wouldn’t it? Rich wife of Death Eater Lucius Malfoy loses control and goes off the deep end, killing herself.” Lucius gripped his wand tightly, “Of course, she’d be so devastated by hearing of my death that she’d kill herself.” Ron was speechless. He wasn’t sure what he could say that wouldn’t sound stupid or even a bit idiotic. He reached out and put a hand on the older man’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Lucius.” He murmured.
Lucius allowed that one moment to show weakness as a single tear fell down his cheek, as it fell to the ground, he set his jaw, “Yes, well, as much as that’s appreciated that can do nothing to bring back my wife or help my son. So instead of having a bloody soul to soul chat with a Weasley, I prefer to get back to work.”
This time, when Lucius grabbed Ron’s arm roughly, Ron didn’t complain. He simply led the way.
~*~
Harry remained sitting there, his eyes blank as he rested his head against one hand. It all made sense now, that sixth year at Hogwarts finally made sense. He wasn’t sure what he could say or even do, nothing would make things remotely better at the moment, “You’re serious?” He asked softly.
“I’ve never been more serious in all my life, Harry. I didn’t want to believe him but the look in his eyes when he actually told me.” Ron licked his lips, standing up as he stretched his back out. “I don’t want to tell you that you have to help, for God sakes I’m not even sure why I’m doing it but bloody hell, mate. He needs our help in finding his son, and by finding Draco, we may very well find Hermione.”
Harry glanced up, nodding slowly as he took his glasses off rubbing his eyes for a moment. “Well then I guess I’m helping you.” Harry smiled as he stood up and put his hand on Ron’s shoulder, “We’ve got a sister to find and mate, I have only one thing to tell you.”
Ron raised a brow.
“It’s about damn time you realized that Hermione’s in love with him.” Harry laughed softly as he shook his head, “Despite the fact that you still want to punch him, I’d say you’d be better off remembering what Draco looked like as a ferret.” Both laughed as they walked out of the room to see Lucius sitting down with Ginny and Susan in conversation.
~*~
Hermione tried to open her eyes, but she didn’t want to look at her body. If the pain she felt was any indication, she knew that she was in trouble. Her entire body felt as if it were on fire and the fact that she couldn’t move her arm gave her a small hint that her arm was out of its socket. She whimpered as she cracked one eye open and tried to take in her surrounding area. But there wasn’t anything to see.
It was completely dark where she was.
As she took a deep breath in, she winced from the sudden pain on her side. Obviously, a rib was cracked or broken. What she wouldn’t do for her wand right now. It took a few moments before she saw the door with the tiny window across the cell from her. The light was streaming in through the tiny window and after a few moments of looking into the light, she began to see her surroundings.
Forcing herself to sit up, Hermione shut her eyes for a moment before moving so she could sit with her back against the wall. She almost wanted to pretend that she wasn’t in a cold, dark cell with no food or water. Licking her lips, she tried to imagine lying in bed with Draco, his warm arms around her. It would’ve been nice to have been near him, sharing his body heat.
It had probably been at least a couple days since she’d been attacked by the raven-haired psychotic witch, and Hermione was pretty sure that she’d been beaten up before she had been thrown down here. With a small sigh, she tried to remember what she had been thinking about that had gotten her so distracted. A smile crossed over her face as she began to remember.
Draco.
Being married to Draco and having his children. It had been a nice dream that she had started within her head and she wanted it to come true. A shiver crossed over her body as she took a deep breath in, it was almost like she could smell him. Hermione knew that it had to be her imagination that was going overboard. There was no way that Draco would be anywhere near her right now. He wouldn’t have been stupid enough to get caught. Sighing, she opened her eyes, rubbing them for only a moment before looking towards the door.
“Where am I?” She murmured to herself.
“You’re in a cell of the new Dark Lord’s apparent headquarters,” A low voice replied. Hermione took a sharp breath in, recognizing the voice immediately. The pain no longer mattered as she tried to find the body from where the voice came from.
“Draco?” She whispered.
“You’re beautiful when you sit there, thinking to yourself. Did you know that?” He asked her, staying in the dark corner he’d pulled himself to when he tried to allow her space. Draco knew that he couldn’t sit there and crowd her, she needed to breathe.
“Draco, where are you?” Hermione asked, almost pleading.
“I can’t for the life of me, understand why I let you walk away from me when you came to my house,” He replied. Hermione closed her eyes, listening only to his voice. “I should’ve gone after you and grabbed you and never let you leave my sight.” He laughed to himself, making Hermione believe he was becoming delusional, “Maybe then we wouldn’t have been put in this shit hole.”
“Draco?” Hermione said, opening her eyes as she finally noticed where he was.
“Yeah?” He asked.
“Do me a favor, and shut the hell up.” She demanded as she moved over towards him. Their eyes met and Hermione felt her body shudder as Draco reached out and cupped her face. Tears began to well up within her eyes as she licked her lips and looked down at the ground for only a moment. Immediately her eyes captured his, and she realized how much they had dimmed.
“You’re real.” He stated, “I kept telling myself that you were, I even held your hand when they brought you in. But then I thought they took you away.” Draco’s eyes had finally allowed tears to escape them and Hermione touched her hands to his.
“Oh, Draco,” She whispered, “I’m here and I’m real.” She wasn’t able to say much more because Draco crushed his lips against hers. Although his were dry and cracked, and she could taste a small amount of blood, that didn’t mean anything. All she knew was that she had finally found him. It had taken forever, and she had about died doing it, but she was finally in his arms.
Their arms wrapped around one another tightly as she tried to keep from crying. She didn’t want to, but as she felt a few more tears fall from Draco’s cheeks, her eyes finally gave in as she whimpered against his chest, “You’re real too,” She whispered against him, her head resting comfortably against his shoulder. It was the first time she felt alive since she’d seen Draco storm out of her life.
For what she thought had been forever.
“Draco, promise me something,” She whispered.
“Anything,” He replied, a rough kiss from his lips touching her forehead. His arms moved slowly against hers and she began to feel the warmth from his hands. As her eyes closed, she gently buried her face into his shoulder taking deep breaths as she inhaled his scent.
“Promise me that you’ll always be here, and you’ll never leave me.” She asked him, taking a moment to look up at him. She wanted their eyes to meet as he made this promise to her. It was almost of form of being married.
“I’ll never leave you, Hermione.” Draco replied, “I’ll never leave you.” He felt his hands warm as he ran them along her body gently. He knew she was bruised and he wished that he could heal every pain from her body. He’d take them into his own if it came down to it.
As they kissed one another softly, Hermione allowed her eyes to close again as they slowly drifted to sleep in one another’s arms. They were finally back together, and before Hermione allowed herself to give in completely to sleep, she thought of the fight they were going to have to overcome.
They were going to have to kill, in order to survive, and in order to love.
Author: Raven jaded_icy_rose
Rating: R
Warnings: Language, Violence
Summary: After one night of pure passion, they wake up together. Chapter Twenty-Four: Harry has to confront a former enemy, a man that he once promised to loathe because his best friend brings him into his house, while Hermione finally wakes up.
Disclaimer: Thanks to JKR for letting me borrow them, sadly, I don’t own them.
A/N: And I give a gift to all my readers! Hehe, a new chappy!
Side Note: I wanted to let you all know that I have edited the story a little. I've taken a section from a previous chapter, deleted it and put it in here. It just works better and I talked it over with my beta ^_^ So I didn't want some of you going "didn't we already read this?" lol. So Enjoy!
Mistaken, Prologue
Mistaken, Chapter One
Mistaken, Chapter Two
Mistaken, Chapter Three
Mistaken, Chapter Four
Mistaken, Chapter Five
Mistaken, Chapter Six
Mistaken, Chapter Seven
Mistaken, Chapter Eight
Mistaken, Chapter Nine
Mistaken, Chapter Ten
Mistaken, Chapter Eleven
Mistaken, Chapter Twelve
Mistaken, Chapter Thirteen
Mistaken, Chapter Fourteen
Mistaken, Chapter Fifteen
Mistaken, Chapter Sixteen
Mistaken, Chapter Seventeen
Mistaken, Chapter Eighteen
Mistaken, Chapter Nineteen
Mistaken, Chapter Twenty
Mistaken, Chapter Twenty One
Mistaken, Chapter Twenty Two
Mistaken, Chapter Twenty Three
Harry still wasn’t sure he really wanted the blonde arrogant man in his own damn living room but after glancing at the looks on Susan, Ginny and Ron’s faces, he wasn’t sure that he could kick him out. He saw the slight look of disapproval on Lucius’ face. Crossing his arms, he bit into his cheek, trying to keep himself from saying anything. He watched Lucius as the man slowly walked through the room, his eyes darting around the room, taking it all in.
“Are you certain that this is where you live, Potter?” Lucius asked as he tilted his head, placing his cane on the floor, snake head in hand. “I would’ve been sure that you could afford something more than this.”
“Our house is being built, Malfoy.” Harry retorted, “Not that I think it’s any of your business really.” Lucius raised a brow.
“Still as confident as ever,” Lucius allowed a small smirk cross his face as he met Ginny’s gaze, “And apparently you’re well enough to continue your family line, congratulations are in order I assume.” Harry wanted to punch the man through the wall but he retrained himself as he clenched his fist.
“Ronald, can I speak to you for a moment in the back room?” Harry demanded. Ron glanced from Susan, who currently had her arms wrapped around him, to Lucius and then back to Harry. Clearing his throat, he glanced down and nodded slowly.
“Yeah, sure thing, mate,” Ron replied as he turned to Susan, he smiled a little as he leaned forward, touching his forehead to hers. Whispering in her ear, he kissed her cheek gently before he squeezed her hand and walked towards Harry. Looking back at Lucius, Ron sighed as he bit his lower lip.
Harry turned down towards the hallway, not giving Lucius a second look. Turning into a room to the left, Harry watched as Ron walked into the room and Harry gave the door a small shove, slamming it shut. Shutting his eyes for a moment, Harry allowed his hands to unclench as he turned to his best friend.
“How the fuck could you bring him here?” Harry growled.
“Mate, first off, you have to at least try and listen to me.” Ron replied, sitting on the edge of Harry’s desk, when Harry finally sat down, Ron let out a long sigh. “Shortly after Susan slammed me against the wall after that whole disaster I went to a pub and planned on getting rip roaring drunk. I was half-way there when Lucius Malfoy basically kidnapped me and locked me up.”
“He what?” Harry started.
“Yeah, he locked me up. A lot of good it did me because it only pissed me off. He then started talking to me about how I had screwed up everything for Draco and Hermione and how I probably set both of them up for death with the Dark Lord.” Harry’s eyes darkened as Ron looked up, “Yeah, the Dark Lord. Obviously he doesn’t mean Voldemort, I mean you killed him. But there’s a new one, and Lucius knows who it is and he needs our help in helping Draco.”
“Why the hell would I want to help that man in doing anything that involves Draco?” Harry asked, standing up as he turned towards the window, “My only concern was you, and Hermione. Now that we have you, we only need to find her.”
“You’re not listening to me, Harry.” Ron replied, crossing his arms as he stood up, staring a hole into Harry’s back, “Lucius was right when he said that Draco and Hermione were basically tied together. I have no doubt right now that wherever Draco is, Hermione’s there too. And we have to find them both. She’s in love with him, Harry.”
“And what good does that do for her? It’s obviously going to get her killed from what your dear friend Lucius has to say.” Harry growled. Staring down, he leaned against the window frame, “What could Lucius Malfoy possibly have said to you that would’ve made you actually trust him, Ron? Because for the life of me, I don’t know what Lucius Malfoy could ever do to make me trust him.”
“Do you really want to know, Harry?” Ron asked.
“I told you I did, didn’t I?” Harry replied, turning to his friend as their gazes met.
“Well, you better sit down because it’s going to be a long story.” Ron said, sitting down on Harry’s desk as he looked down and crossed his arms.
~*~
“You know, I could really use some water right now,” Ron grumbled as he trudged through the streets with his captor. Who still refused to take off his ridiculous mask and cloak, even though Ron already knew who it was, “Why don’t you just take that ruddy crap off anyway?”
“Why should I?” The man spat back as he held on tightly to Ron’s arm. Ron groaned at the sudden pinch he felt in his arm from the fingers digging into his skin.
“Well, it doesn’t really do you any good to have it on anymore. I know who you are, and it’s not like anyone’s really going to be awake at this hour to see you and scream for their lives. Everyone thinks you’re either dead or being tortured right now, so it’s not like anyone really cares about you either.” Ron argued, trying to make his body just give out so he could take a break.
“That may be true Mr. Weasley but you seem to forget that when I was thought to be alive, I was one of the most feared Death Eaters. Not to mention the fact that I was incredibly talented and no one dare actually challenge me.” His captor glanced around, trying to see if anyone was in fact, walking the streets. When he was satisfied, he pulled the hood from his cloak off, waving his hand over his face, he made the mask disappear.
Scowling down at Ron, he shook his head, “Where did you say this pathetic little hole in the wall was?”
“Still a few blocks ahead, you know, for a pureblood you sure as hell have a crappy attitude towards other purebloods.” Ron retorted, “Why don’t you actually thank me for leading you to someone that can help you save your son.”
Lucius grabbed ahold of Ron’s shirt and slammed him against the wall, “Listen you pathetic Weasley. I can still kill you right here if you don’t do exactly as I tell you to. If it wasn’t for me you’d probably have already lost your dear friend Hermione. It just so happens that she’s the woman my son decided to fall in love with, not that I particularly agree with his tastes right now.” Ron frowned.
“What could Hermione possibly have done to you that makes you hate her so much?” He asked the older man.
“Nothing,” Lucius snarled, “I don’t have to like who my son picks to love. I certainly didn’t make my father jump for joy when I told him that I was going to marry Narcissa, but then he realized what a powerful line the Malfoy’s would become aligned with and it shut him up.” They continued to walk down the narrow alleyways.
“Is that the only reason you married her? For power?” Ron asked, rolling his eyes, “That’s a pathetic reason if you ask me.” Lucius clenched his hand as the redhead continued to move his mouth, “I mean its not like you were actually in love with her or anything, right?”
“Would you just shut your mouth until we get there?” Lucius groaned, “It’s understandable why your wife slammed you against a wall now. It’s not like you married her for love.” It only took that one remark to keep Ron from saying another word, “I may have had one goal in mind when I first began to see Narcissa, but in the end I fell in love with her.” Lucius paused, “And I have no idea why I’m telling you any of this.” He looked towards Ron with a sneer in his eyes, it was then that he saw Ron’s face.
“I had a goal with Hermione,” Ron murmured, “I was going to prove to her that I was all she needed. That being with Draco was nothing but a mistake.” Lucius wanted to strangle the red head because of what he’d done to his son, but he didn’t, “Honestly? I thought Draco to be nothing more than a shadow of his father.” When Ron looked up to Lucius, he had a bit of hatred in his eyes.
“Oh? Well, am I supposed to be taking that as a compliment?” Lucius asked, a bit of a smirk on his face.
“No. Do you know what you put me through while I was at Hogwarts?” Ron asked, “What you put Hermione through? And Harry?” Lucius glanced down, it was the first sign of slight remorse that Ron ever saw from the proud Malfoy.
“I know exactly what I did. And in the end, it cost me my wife.” Lucius replied. “I’m not going to apologize for anything that I’ve said, or even done,” The casual arrogance was back in his face. “What I did then, I believed to be right and then after I was sent to Azkaban and Voldemort never came for me, I began to realize what exactly I was fighting for on his side.” Ron only listened, sliding his hands into his pockets as he leaned against a wall in the alleyway. “The only thing Voldemort had in mind for his cause was domination. He wanted to rule the world and kill everyone who opposed him. He wasn’t going to give me the riches he promised, and he wasn’t going to make sure that my family was more powerful then ever. So I turned against him.”
“How?” Ron asked.
“I did the one thing that would hurt Voldemort the most. I turned my son against him by means of Narcissa. Narcissa would do anything to protect Draco, so in Azkaban I managed to send a letter by means of a Dementor to Voldemort, suggesting that my son be the one to kill Dumbledore.” Lucius explained.
“You set Draco up?”
“Yes, and I figured that Narcissa would immediately go to Severus Snape for protection of Draco, and I was right.” Lucius fought back the tears, “What I didn’t expect was that Severus would figure it all out and turn against Narcissa, and end up killing her.” Ron raised a brow.
“It was reported that Narcissa killed herself.” He recalled.
“That would be the most obvious thing to do, wouldn’t it? Rich wife of Death Eater Lucius Malfoy loses control and goes off the deep end, killing herself.” Lucius gripped his wand tightly, “Of course, she’d be so devastated by hearing of my death that she’d kill herself.” Ron was speechless. He wasn’t sure what he could say that wouldn’t sound stupid or even a bit idiotic. He reached out and put a hand on the older man’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Lucius.” He murmured.
Lucius allowed that one moment to show weakness as a single tear fell down his cheek, as it fell to the ground, he set his jaw, “Yes, well, as much as that’s appreciated that can do nothing to bring back my wife or help my son. So instead of having a bloody soul to soul chat with a Weasley, I prefer to get back to work.”
This time, when Lucius grabbed Ron’s arm roughly, Ron didn’t complain. He simply led the way.
~*~
Harry remained sitting there, his eyes blank as he rested his head against one hand. It all made sense now, that sixth year at Hogwarts finally made sense. He wasn’t sure what he could say or even do, nothing would make things remotely better at the moment, “You’re serious?” He asked softly.
“I’ve never been more serious in all my life, Harry. I didn’t want to believe him but the look in his eyes when he actually told me.” Ron licked his lips, standing up as he stretched his back out. “I don’t want to tell you that you have to help, for God sakes I’m not even sure why I’m doing it but bloody hell, mate. He needs our help in finding his son, and by finding Draco, we may very well find Hermione.”
Harry glanced up, nodding slowly as he took his glasses off rubbing his eyes for a moment. “Well then I guess I’m helping you.” Harry smiled as he stood up and put his hand on Ron’s shoulder, “We’ve got a sister to find and mate, I have only one thing to tell you.”
Ron raised a brow.
“It’s about damn time you realized that Hermione’s in love with him.” Harry laughed softly as he shook his head, “Despite the fact that you still want to punch him, I’d say you’d be better off remembering what Draco looked like as a ferret.” Both laughed as they walked out of the room to see Lucius sitting down with Ginny and Susan in conversation.
~*~
Hermione tried to open her eyes, but she didn’t want to look at her body. If the pain she felt was any indication, she knew that she was in trouble. Her entire body felt as if it were on fire and the fact that she couldn’t move her arm gave her a small hint that her arm was out of its socket. She whimpered as she cracked one eye open and tried to take in her surrounding area. But there wasn’t anything to see.
It was completely dark where she was.
As she took a deep breath in, she winced from the sudden pain on her side. Obviously, a rib was cracked or broken. What she wouldn’t do for her wand right now. It took a few moments before she saw the door with the tiny window across the cell from her. The light was streaming in through the tiny window and after a few moments of looking into the light, she began to see her surroundings.
Forcing herself to sit up, Hermione shut her eyes for a moment before moving so she could sit with her back against the wall. She almost wanted to pretend that she wasn’t in a cold, dark cell with no food or water. Licking her lips, she tried to imagine lying in bed with Draco, his warm arms around her. It would’ve been nice to have been near him, sharing his body heat.
It had probably been at least a couple days since she’d been attacked by the raven-haired psychotic witch, and Hermione was pretty sure that she’d been beaten up before she had been thrown down here. With a small sigh, she tried to remember what she had been thinking about that had gotten her so distracted. A smile crossed over her face as she began to remember.
Draco.
Being married to Draco and having his children. It had been a nice dream that she had started within her head and she wanted it to come true. A shiver crossed over her body as she took a deep breath in, it was almost like she could smell him. Hermione knew that it had to be her imagination that was going overboard. There was no way that Draco would be anywhere near her right now. He wouldn’t have been stupid enough to get caught. Sighing, she opened her eyes, rubbing them for only a moment before looking towards the door.
“Where am I?” She murmured to herself.
“You’re in a cell of the new Dark Lord’s apparent headquarters,” A low voice replied. Hermione took a sharp breath in, recognizing the voice immediately. The pain no longer mattered as she tried to find the body from where the voice came from.
“Draco?” She whispered.
“You’re beautiful when you sit there, thinking to yourself. Did you know that?” He asked her, staying in the dark corner he’d pulled himself to when he tried to allow her space. Draco knew that he couldn’t sit there and crowd her, she needed to breathe.
“Draco, where are you?” Hermione asked, almost pleading.
“I can’t for the life of me, understand why I let you walk away from me when you came to my house,” He replied. Hermione closed her eyes, listening only to his voice. “I should’ve gone after you and grabbed you and never let you leave my sight.” He laughed to himself, making Hermione believe he was becoming delusional, “Maybe then we wouldn’t have been put in this shit hole.”
“Draco?” Hermione said, opening her eyes as she finally noticed where he was.
“Yeah?” He asked.
“Do me a favor, and shut the hell up.” She demanded as she moved over towards him. Their eyes met and Hermione felt her body shudder as Draco reached out and cupped her face. Tears began to well up within her eyes as she licked her lips and looked down at the ground for only a moment. Immediately her eyes captured his, and she realized how much they had dimmed.
“You’re real.” He stated, “I kept telling myself that you were, I even held your hand when they brought you in. But then I thought they took you away.” Draco’s eyes had finally allowed tears to escape them and Hermione touched her hands to his.
“Oh, Draco,” She whispered, “I’m here and I’m real.” She wasn’t able to say much more because Draco crushed his lips against hers. Although his were dry and cracked, and she could taste a small amount of blood, that didn’t mean anything. All she knew was that she had finally found him. It had taken forever, and she had about died doing it, but she was finally in his arms.
Their arms wrapped around one another tightly as she tried to keep from crying. She didn’t want to, but as she felt a few more tears fall from Draco’s cheeks, her eyes finally gave in as she whimpered against his chest, “You’re real too,” She whispered against him, her head resting comfortably against his shoulder. It was the first time she felt alive since she’d seen Draco storm out of her life.
For what she thought had been forever.
“Draco, promise me something,” She whispered.
“Anything,” He replied, a rough kiss from his lips touching her forehead. His arms moved slowly against hers and she began to feel the warmth from his hands. As her eyes closed, she gently buried her face into his shoulder taking deep breaths as she inhaled his scent.
“Promise me that you’ll always be here, and you’ll never leave me.” She asked him, taking a moment to look up at him. She wanted their eyes to meet as he made this promise to her. It was almost of form of being married.
“I’ll never leave you, Hermione.” Draco replied, “I’ll never leave you.” He felt his hands warm as he ran them along her body gently. He knew she was bruised and he wished that he could heal every pain from her body. He’d take them into his own if it came down to it.
As they kissed one another softly, Hermione allowed her eyes to close again as they slowly drifted to sleep in one another’s arms. They were finally back together, and before Hermione allowed herself to give in completely to sleep, she thought of the fight they were going to have to overcome.
They were going to have to kill, in order to survive, and in order to love.