A/N: I missed y'all. This is part one of two of a double update. Chapter 25 will be coming shortly.
This is not edited. Please let me know (politely) if you see any typos.
Love you all. Thanks for sticking around.
xoxo, carm
–
It was time.
His lack of sleep and general well being had taken its toll, but there was no hope for recovery. The summons had come. His father had finally written to him under the guise of an Easter celebration.
Draco was still on the outs with Granger. He was hoping that it would both mend itself and also continue to corrode so that she wouldn't try to follow him home. He knew, of course, that that was impossible, but it was hope. Hope didn't listen to reason.
Taking his time, he packed his things – brought the important things and assumed the rest of it would be sent later, when he didn't return.
He wondered what they would do with Granger's things.
Shaking off the thought, he headed for Snape's office. He had a Floo that he was going to use. He had barely left the dungeons when he was ambushed. Pulling his wand and casting a Lumos, he realized who it was. "What are you doing here?" It was phrased as a question, but the words lay flat, no lilt to them.
"I want to talk to you," came the reply.
"No." His voice was hard, and he was doing his best to convey finality in it. Of course, it didn't work.
"Where are you going?" she had noticed the bag he was carrying. It seemed to sidetrack her intent for the conversation she'd originally come to have, whatever it was.
"Home," he replied. "Easter," Draco said by way of explanation.
Granger's eyes narrowed at him, and even in the dim light of his wand in the corridor, he could tell that she was calculating something.
"No," she said. "I don't buy it.'
He scoffed indignantly, mildly outraged. "Well, lucky for you, it's not for sale. Nox." Putting the light out, he sidestepped her and tried to move down the hallway.
"I know you're lying," her voice rang out behind him. She had turned in his direction but hadn't yet followed. "I can feel it."
Draco laughed, a scathing sound. "Oh, goody. Granger has a perfect moral compass. Isn't that nice."
"Shut it, you wanker," she said, and it almost sounded like she was biting back a laugh. Gods, he'd missed that sound in her voice, the one where she's trying to teach him a lesson but can't hold back her laughter. Suddenly, a realization struck her and she stepped away from him. "But you're lying to me, and I know it."
Draco rolled his eyes, even though she was right on the money. "For a know it all, you don't know nearly as much as you think you do." The hurricane that was tossing his stomach intensified as he realized what his next step would have to be.
Granger prattled on, surely yelling at him, but he wasn't listening. He was only thinking about what his next inevitable, yet unforgivable step would be.
Raising his wand, he heard her cut herself off with the words, "Draco, what are you–"
"Imperio."
Granger froze, a sheen glazing over her eyes. "I'm sorry," his voice broke. "You may never forgive me for this, but I'll never forgive myself if–" he choked on his words. "You have to stay here. You can't follow me. You must. Stay. Here." Draco was hoping that if he reiterated the only command he had for her, she would actually listen.
Breaking the spell and turning, he lunged into the Floo. "Malfoy Manor!'
–
Hermione watched. And as she watched, she floated. She was in a pool of jello, taking her time getting around. But she couldn't get out.
She was stuck.
Draco.
Where did that thought come from? She was in a pool. Of Jello. She was perfectly happy to stay put. Stay exactly where she was.
Draco.
Draco? What did he have to do with her jello pool? She wanted to stay here.
But she wanted him to join her in her jello pool. Why couldn't she go get him?
Stay put.
But why? He needed to see the jello pool. It was so cool. He would love it. The Muggles finally got something right, he would say. She had to go get him. He had to see it.
No.
Why not? She felt like a petulant child who was throwing a temper tantrum and still wasn't getting what they wanted.
And what she wanted was for Draco to see the jello pool.
She had to go get him.
Go. Get. Draco.
No.
Why?
She had to get out of the pool to go find him. It seemed really important. Clawing her way through the Jello, it got harder and harder to try to surface. She hated Jello, she thought. Had never even liked it as a kid.
Yanking herself up the side of the pool, she took a deep breath, and thought of Draco.
Her eyes opened and she was in Hogwarts. Fuck. How long had he been gone? She had no time.
Running for the Floo, she yelled out Malfoy Manor and jumped into the green flames.
What she failed to notice, however, was a snake following after her.
–
Narcissa's shoes clicked quickly with the urgency of her situation. She shouldn't be here, she had no cover story, but she would be quick.
She had no other choice these days but to be quick and efficient.
Without bothering to knock, she entered the office. "I want in."
"Narcissa," Snape said coolly without looking up from what he was writing on his desk. "I wasn't expecting you."
"As you shouldn't have been. This was not planned," she agreed. "However, this couldn't wait. We need to chat."
Snape let out a sigh that seemed like he would rather be anywhere else. "I concur. It seems that you do know your son better than I."
Letting out a 'hmph' sound under her breath, she said, "Well, I should hope so. I am his mother, after all. I told you that he stood no chance against the Granger girl." Pride unfurled inside her, knowing that she had been right all along. This was quickly followed by dread that she had, in fact, been right all along.
Narcissa straightened up, steeling herself for the words that were about to leave her mouth. She couldn't even believe that she had fallen this far. "I want in."
A raised eyebrow was her answer. "...into what?"
Clearing her throat, she continued. "You know."
"Unfortunately Narcissa, while I am a powerful Legilimens, I do not possess the capability of reading minds without completely infiltrating them. So, I will need you to use. Your. Words," Snape drawled.
Sometimes Severus could really be a pain to deal with. Although he had essentially been a part of the Malfoy family for years, he had never surpassed talking to her like she was a child. Oftentimes, he even did it to Lucius. If he didn't do it to anyone else, she would have a severe problem with it that would end with his tongue in her hand. As it were, they actually got the better side of his temperament, so his tongue stayed where it was.
"The Order. I know you're a part of it. I want in."
Severus froze where he sat, his eyes glued to the page he was reading. Revealing nothing, he said, "Oh?"
"Yes, 'oh.' I've known for years, and I've kept your secret," Narcissa said, exaggerating just slightly. She'd guessed for years, and had kept this information in her back pocket for exactly this moment. She was playing her hand and hoping it was worth it. Snape looked up and finally met her eyes, cocking a brow as if to say, 'continue.'
She took a deep breath, and continued. "Now I need you to keep mine."
-
One thing about the Dark Lord is that he knew how to hold a meeting.
Draco was sitting in on the inner circle meeting. He was supposed to be learning from Lucius, to take over the family business. All he knew was that he wanted nothing to do with it.
"And on the matter of the young Malfoy's task... where do we stand?" came the Dark Lord's drawl. Draco felt Lucius stiffen next to him, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Well, My Lord, I–"
And that's where it all went to shit.
Draco felt as something in the wards shifted. He had lived in this house his whole life. He knew when a new blood signature was entering the property. And in this moment, he knew it was the one person he had hoped he would never see again.
The blood drained from his face, and before he could do anything, Lucius perked up.
"My Lord," came the sound of betrayal in the form of his father's voice, "I believe she has just arrived."
"Ah, excellently done, Draco," Voldemort praised him. A snakelike smile stretched across his face. "I simply cannot wait to break her."
"Thank you, My Lord." His voice was strangled as he tried to figure out what to do. His rapidly swirling mind was coming up at nothing but dead ends as he tried to figure out a way to save her, to save them. And there was nothing he could do.
He was going to have to watch Hermione die.
"You are all dismissed," Voldemort said, breezing out of the room.
As soon as he was in the clear, he followed the wards directions until he was yanking Hermione out of his bedroom closet. How she had figured out which room was his, he had no clue, but he was lucky.
"What are you doing here?" he hissed, more angry in that moment than he could ever remember being. "I told you not to come! I literally used an Unforgivable on you Granger! Do you think I did that just for fun? No! I did it so you wouldn't walk into a literal death trap! Did you ever think, for even a moment, that you maybe shouldn't listen to a thought coming from that giant brain of yours?"
Yanking her arm out of his grip and smoothing down her clothes, she countered back, "Do you? You haven't had a single worthwhile thought lately, and you're chastising me about my intelligence? That's the one place I really wouldn't go right now, Draco."
"I am not having this fight with you right now. Why are you in my house? You can't be here." He was growing desperate now. "He's here, Hermione. I can't have you anywhere near him. I won't."
"I can play the game as well as anyone, Draco. I'm going to get you out of this," she seemed so determined. It was a shame he was going to have to break her spirit.
"You will not win against him, Hermione. This is a useless endeavor. Does anyone even know where you are?"
"...No. But that's besides the point," she said indignantly.
"It's not! It's literally the point of the conversation we're having right now. I cannot handle you being here. You have to leave. Now that he knows you're here, he'll be here any second." It was like pleading with a brick wall.
"Well it's too late for me now, then isn't it? We'll sell him what he thinks you've already done. I already know about your task so we're going to lie to his face. And we're going to win."
"You're mental," he whispered, "No one can lie to him. It's impossible. He will kill you, Hermione, and that is something I simply refuse to live with."
"It's not, and you won't," her stubborn Gryffindor side butted through. "Here's what we're going to do..."
She dragged them over to the fireplace, talking quickly. As the wards alerted that he was on his way to Draco's room, they knew they were out of time. They posed in front of the fireplace, her wand in hand and Floo powder in the other, and waited for the door to open.
"Ah, young love," Voldemort hissed as he looked at them and her proximity to the fireplace. He nodded his head at Hermione as the other Death Eaters surrounded her. "Bring her."
It was time.