A/N: I want to thank you guys for the lovely messages and reviews you left. I swear, it's warmed my cold heart! It's just amazing to see how many of you have stuck with this story over the years. I truly feel humbled.

This chapter was meant to be a part of the last chapter, but I didn't think it really fit. So it's a stand alone now, but a little shorter than what you guys are probably used to with this fic.

Still, I hope you enjoy!

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE: JUST BAD LUCK

June 2002

There was a collective second of silence, the entire arena holding its breath, and then there were screams. I may have joined them and also screamed. I may have gasped. It's too long ago to remember this that clearly now.

What I do remember is that the second the charms failed and the barrier protecting us fell, there was a stampede of Hippogriffs running in every direction, angrily slashing at the humans that had wronged them. And for what? For entertainment? For sport?

We all scrambled, running this way and that like rats released into the wild. Hermione was beside me, trying to direct me somewhere, trying to create order out of chaos. Out of nowhere, in the mad scramble of things, someone pushed me, bumping into my back and I went flying, sprawled on the dirt ground of the race track.

"Look out!" someone screamed behind me. Instinctively, I rolled and a second later a Hippogriff hoof was right next to my head, where I had been not even a second previously. I do remember screaming then – wouldn't you have too? – and rolling again out of the way while a giant Hippogriff stood above me, repeatedly trying to stomp me to death with its gargantuan clawed feet.

It was a scene out of a nightmare. I couldn't believe what was happening right before my eyes. This wasn't happening again. It simply wasn't.

I am not meant to die here, was the only disbelieving thought circling its way through my brain.

"Draco!" It was Hermione screaming. She was screaming my name. Suddenly, she was right behind me and I wanted to yell at her for being so stupid. Did she not see the angry, murderous Hippogriff right before us, trying its very best to stomp me into a pancake, or was I just hallucinating? "Move! It's behind you!"

Behind me?

I barely had a second to jump – really, be pushed – out of the way. We both went tumbling further out into the track. A second later, I saw we had narrowly missed a second Hippogriff, its sharp claws slashing into the air where we had been standing just moments ago. Apparently, this act of aggression was enough for the first beast to get angry. How dare Hippogriff number 2 interfere with its lunch?

If it's not evident by now, I was the lunch in this scenario.

They were staring at each other with murderous intent, little old me on my knees just beyond them, completely forgotten. It was then that I could see that their wings were clipped to their sides with some sort of metal contraption, presumably so that they could not fly away. Their necks were collared, a chain dangling back and wound to their bound wings.

Well, at least that explained why neither Hippogriff had pecked me to death with their beaks. It probably also explained why they were so angry. If I had sharp talons like that, I'd want to slash some wizards out, too.

There was security all around us, unequipped for this disaster. Likely, they were just temporary placeholders until the Ministry could send over the Magical Creature Control Unit. But without them, there was no real chance of containing the beasts.

By Gods, did I hate Hippogriffs. Have I mentioned this? I loathe the beasts.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Hermione. She was still there. She hadn't left me, still to my surprise. She was trying to pull me up, trying to drag me to the safety of the stands. I could see Emma the Swedish Giant backing up slowly and away from a roan feathered one as it glared at her, one eye rolling madly, the other pointed at her in malice.

I couldn't feel my left arm. Had I hit it when I fell? But then I remembered I couldn't feel anything at all. I was numb. Was I still there or had I left my body?

Hermione was screaming at me, presumably to move, but I couldn't make out what she was saying. It was chaos. I saw feathers everywhere. A Hippogriff was smashing abandoned camera equipment and I pictured it doing the same to my head. Was I going to throw up? Perhaps. Was it possible to die of shock and terror?

I reached for Hermione, putting her in front of me, trying to shield her from the chaos on the track now behind us.

"Time to go, Granger!" I think I shouted, although it could have been anything.

Maybe what I actually said was: We're all going to die! Or, They're everywhere! They're coming for us! We're not going to make it!

It didn't make a difference what I said. Hermione was in charge and in her element. She was grasping my wrist and dragging me towards… well, I can't really say where she was trying to take me. Away somewhere, I'm sure. Away from the chaos. Maybe to an exit or perhaps towards the stands again. Maybe to a broomstick so we could fly off into the sunset. Who knows what her plans were? But I digress.

We didn't get very far, unsurprisingly. As I'm sure you know, Hippogriffs are prideful and capricious creatures. These ones especially, as they'd been chained and likely cursed and prodded into submission by their masters to run around in circles until they died a sad death.

What I meant to say is, there wasn't much use in trying to run. There were no clear paths to an exit. The beasts had decided chaos was likely their only means of escape from a life of slavery and sport. Chaos and possibly indiscriminate murder.

I don't care what you say. Yes, it's murder. Intentional murder too. They're horrible beasts and the world would be served well if they were all exterminated. But, again, I digress.

In the end, we were trapped in the middle of the track. Hermione, myself, an a bunch of green reporters, who likely had never been on a battlefield in their life, just stuck there right in the open. I, of course, did not have a wand on me. So, I picked up a sharp pointy rod from the ground, likely a broken piece of camera equipment. I felt like my time had come. I was going to die here. And from a strange gryphon faced creature no less. Fate was funny in that way.

We weren't necessarily surrounded. I don't think the beasts had the intellect to actually corral us into a group in the middle of the track. But then again, maybe they're more cunning than I know. Still, there were enough of them all around us, swiping and snarling, that it was a bad situation to be in.

"We're going to have to make a run for it!" one of the others shouted to the rest of us, while indiscriminately shooting spell after spell in all directions. It wasn't doing much besides irritating the feathered beasts further and drawing their attention towards us, but he wouldn't stop. The idiot. "If we split up, we could probably make it!"

"We've tried that already, you won't make it! Let's set up another shield until the Creature Control Squad gets here!" Hermione shouted back.

"We won't last that long!" another one of them shouted, ducking around a claw and shooting at least four stunners at the grey beast before him, but to no avail.

"We will! Just let me -"

"We run at three! One -"

"Hold on!" Hermione was shouting.

"Two!"

"Watch out!" Emma screamed.

But it was too late. A particularly big tawny Hippogriff was charging straight at us, right at Hermione, who was facing the wrong way and didn't see it coming. I saw it happen in slow motion. I saw the puffs of dust billowing against its pounding claws as it charged, the glint of the sun against its glossy feathers, its beak parted in a growl.

I don't remember moving towards her to push her out of the way. If it wasn't me, someone else must have done it, because the path was now clear. I do remember raising my arm and lunging – almost blindly – and making jarring contact. There was a blinding pain in my arm and shoulder, a dull thud, and an ungodly screech from the beast. Then there was a warm spurt of something splattering across me, over my face, and into my mouth.

When I opened my eyes, for I must have closed them at some point or another, Hermione was staring at me aghast. She was on the ground, another reporter behind her – maybe the one who had pulled her out of the way? – and she was breathing hard. I could see that from where I stood in shock.

I was standing over the Hippogriff that had charged at us. It was thrashing, trying to right itself, but its wings were tied and it just couldn't find any leverage to get up. I saw the glint of the metal rod I had been holding, protruding from under its wing. I had stabbed it there. I must have done so with an inhuman amount of force. Or perhaps the Hippogriff had fallen onto it, impaling itself deeper.

I wanted to throw up.

I was dripping with blood. It was everywhere, in my hair, my eyes, my nostrils, and I was just covered with it. Beyond a dull ache in my shoulder, I could feel nothing. My body was numb. Was Hippogriff blood poisonous, I wondered?

I suppose it's not necessarily true that I felt nothing.

I felt disgust and revulsion at what I'd just done, at watching the Hippogriff writhe on the ground before me. I felt relief that Hermione was alive. But all of this was muted, as if it was happening to someone else or maybe someone was telling me about their feelings. For a moment, I couldn't see, breathe, or hear a thing. If my body was still there, I'd say it no longer belonged to me. All I could do was watch the beast struggle pathetically before me.

I had done that. It was my fault.

"Draco, we have to go."

Hermione was there, next to me, gentle as ever, even though we were in the midst of an active Hippogriff riot. Calm and collected, that was her game. What an odd creature. She was odder than the beast laying before us.

"Come on, it's not safe," she was saying.

"Okay…" I finally said, making eye contact. As much as I was able with blood dripping into my eyes.

Behind her, there were several shocked reporters shooting glances in our general direction. They all still had their wands out and at the ready and were actively shooting all manner of spells left and right, but I saw the looks being thrown our way. Some were more afraid of me than the actual monsters they were battling. And you know what? Maybe in that moment, I was scarier. I felt that way, too.

For the first time, all of us were on the same page.

"Alright everyone," Hermione shouted. "If we're not staying here, we have to head towards the stairs and climb, they shouldn't be able to follow us! There's not enough space for them in the stands!"

I coughed and spat out blood. Was it mine or the beast I had slain? I genuinely did not know.

"Ready? Okay, go!"

The rest happened in flashes, like my life was being played out for me in a strange heart beat. I don't remember anything much about running towards the spectator stands, except that my lungs were on fire and that it was an absolute and terrible struggle to breathe.

One second we were in the middle of the race track and the next the world went dark. A second later, the world turned itself back on in a flash, the roaring sound overtaking me and threatening to overwhelm my senses. We were making a futile run for it, dodging Hippogriffs, people, and spells alike. There was a deafening screaming and there were roars.

And then there was silence in my mind and blackness as the world and my vision shut itself off.

But it was all back again in a curious flash. We were maybe fifty feet away from the stairs. Someone had lit something on fire and was waving it before one of the Hippogriffs as if to scare it away. It wasn't working very well. The beast was slashing at the flames, rearing up on its hind legs. It was angry. They were all angry.

Silence.

Then I was gasping. I mean, I could hear myself gasping for air. We were twenty feet away from the stands. There were pops and cracks all around us. The Ministry had deployed their magical creature control officers. Someone had let them through the anti-apparation wards. We were going to be okay. They were going to bag the Hippogriffs and hopefully sentence the lot of them to beheadings.

Darkness.

And then I was on the steps with Hermione right behind me, panting. She pushed me to continue climbing, to not stop there when we were so close to escape and safety, so I did as she bade. As long as we got high enough, the unruly beasts wouldn't be able to follow us. The pathways were too narrow without the use of their wings. They wouldn't be able to manage the steep climb with their claws alone. At least, we hoped that was the case. That was the plan.

But we didn't get high enough.

Maybe I'm imagining it now, but I swear that I heard a furious galloping at that point, coming towards us from behind. When I turned, it was the felled Hippogriff, the one I had stabbed, charging right at us. It had somehow managed to right itself and now was out for its revenge. It had us – me – in its sights and was dodging the creature control wizards like it was nothing. Like this was a sport that it played every day. Well, hey, maybe it did.

Even from where I was standing, I could see that the metal rod was still protruding from the Hippogriff's side, right under its wing. It was frothing at the beak. It wanted revenge for what I had done to it and it wanted it right this second.

It was happening too fast.

Nothing prepares you for a sight like that. Nothing. And there's nothing you can do to react any quicker. I wanted to move, but the Hippogriff was faster than I could have ever hoped to be. By the time my brain had processed what it was that I was actually seeing, the beast was already at the bottom of the stairs, mere feet away, and standing on its hind legs. It was slashing at us with its claws.

It caught Hermione's bag, which was slung over her shoulder. It slashed right through the strap, causing her to fall backwards.

She screamed in surprise, her hand reaching towards me, trying to grasp me, trying to prevent her fall backwards into danger. But I wasn't quick enough. Before I could even reach out, before I could grab her, before I could even blink, she was already tumbling backwards.

I shouted, lunging for her, but it was too late. The Hippogriff was quicker. She was sprawled on the ground before it at an unnatural angle. She hadn't even really finished falling when it went in for the kill. It slashed at her and made contact with her somewhere. Where, I didn't see, but it wasn't her head, because she was screaming in pain.

And I knew that I wasn't hallucinating at that point, because those screams were real. I felt it right down to my bones like I'd been struck with a live wire. I knew that scream. I knew that scream intimately. I still heard it in my nightmares, where lightening flashed and Aunt Bellatrix was still alive and well.

Silence.

And then a crescendo of sound. The creature control wizards were descending – where had they been all this time? – throwing a magically reinforced net over the enraged Hippogriff. There was a mighty tug and the Hippogriff was brought to its knees.

And then the Aurors descended, bringing me to mine.

There were people still screaming all around us. Everything was alive with brilliant noise. The Hippogriffs, the spectators, the Aurors, and myself included. I was yelling to be made free, to be let up to see if Hermione was alright, if she was even still alive, and the Aurors were yelling at me to stay down.

"Hermione!" I screamed.

"Incarcerous!" one of them shouted. Ropes sprung up all around me, binding me. I fell onto my side, still screaming. "Stay down! Or I'll have to stun you!"

I felt a wand pointed at my temple, another between my shoulder blades. I felt someone's boot at my hip. All of it was unnecessary, of course. There was no way out of my bindings without a wand. I wasn't about to try any sort of wandless magic here, if I even had the ability to do so. I'm not sure that I did. But in any event, it wasn't worth it.

I let myself go limp. If they stunned me, there was no chance of me seeing if Hermione was okay and being taken care of.

But I was inconsolably sobbing at this point, I'm ashamed to say, with my cheek pressed to the ground. Each puff of moist breath caused dust to billow up around me, making it even more difficult to breathe. I was spitting blood out of my mouth still – how much of that Hippogriff blood had I swallowed? There was dried Hippogriff blood crusting around my eyes and all over my skin. I couldn't breathe. No matter how many times I told myself to calm down and just wait for her, I couldn't breathe.

"Is she okay?" I finally shouted when they all just stood there, keeping me pinned to the ground. I could hear people screaming still and the angry screeches form the beasts at being restrained all over again. But I couldn't see anything, no matter how I craned my neck. They had me pinned too securely. "Did she get away from it? Is someone helping her? Please, is someone with her?"

No answer.

"Please! She needs help!" I shouted, trying to gain some leverage, but it was futile. One of the Aurors kicked me so I was lying face down on the stadium steps. "Just tell me if she's okay!"

"Granger? They seem to have her in a stretcher. I think she's okay! She's talking to some bloke down there," someone said to my left. I couldn't see who.

"Hey!" shouted the Auror right above me, the one with his wand on my back. "Step away from the detainee and exit the stadium!"

So, one of the other reporters had still been close by. Close enough to see that Hermione was being taken care of and was conscious. She was well enough to be talking. That was something. That gave me fortitude. It was enough for me to go completely limp and press my forehead to the dusty ground, exhaling every last bit of tension from my bones.

She was okay.

Well, at least there were people there to make sure she was okay. She was important, so I was sure she would be taken care of. That was all that really mattered. I didn't get a chance to figure out who it was that had kindly given me the information that was my salvation. I didn't have the energy to thank them for their kindness at that time. I do regret that now.

It didn't matter anyway. They had probably escorted him away. No associating with violent criminals and all that. Especially not those that were covered in Hippogriff blood.

I focused on exhaling and then inhaling. Just that. Just breathing as much as I was able. It wasn't easy. Something was definitely broken, maybe a rib, maybe something else. None of it was made better by how I had been trussed up and pinned to the ground. The pressure of the wand was heavy, but it was nothing compared to the Auror's foot on my back. It was causing sharp shooting pains along my spine.

But it doesn't matter, I told myself. Nothing matters except that she's okay. The rest was irrelevant. I was irrelevant. Just as long as she was okay. And she was. She had to be. I don't know how many times I told myself that or how long they kept me pinned to the ground.

What is the point of this? I wanted to ask them that, but knew better. It's not like I was a threat to anyone by that point. I didn't even have a wand on me. As if I was stupid enough to bring something like that to a highly guarded venue like this. But they persisted in their overly cautious treatment of me. What else was new?

I felt the weight and might of the Ministry on my back for an age. Literally.

"What on earth are you doing! You can't hold him like that!" someone was shouting.

"Ma'am, back away."

My heart leapt for a second, thinking maybe it was Hermione, that she had already recovered and was coming for me. But it wasn't. It didn't sound like her and whoever it was had an accent.

"He didn't do anything!" she was shouting. "This is an injustice! Why do you need three people to hold down an unarmed man?!"

"Ma'am, I'm going to ask you to step away and follow the guards to exit the stadium."

Could it be the Swedish Giant, Emma? Some part of me was glad to know that she was okay, that she hadn't been mauled by a monster. Or maybe that feeling came later. I don't know if I had it in me in that moment to feel anything.

"Are you serious? This is a violation of his human rights! Look at how you've got him pinned down!"

"Ma'am, for your own safety, you must exit the arena…"

The voices trailed off as they moved away from me. More accurately, Emma was probably being carted away from the scene. But I could still hear her shouting vaguely in the distance about Auror brutality and that she was going to corral the press to do some sort of exposé on them. Didn't they know they couldn't tamp down the press? That nothing was a secret in this day and age?

Little did she know.

I sighed, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep right then and there, but I wasn't that lucky. I wanted to tell Emma not to waste her breath, but she was also long gone by the time the thought even crossed my mind. All of this was inevitable, I wanted to say. It didn't matter in the slightest. It's all irrelevant. I was irrelevant. Just another day, really.

"What in the Merlin…" someone was saying, whistling at the sight of restrained Hippogriffs before him. "What mess have you created this time, then, Malfoy?"

If I had the energy I would have groaned.

Boots appeared in my vision. Weasley had arrived. Maybe he was acting now in his capacity as an Auror and not just a spectator of sport. Maybe he was here to secure the scene. Maybe he saw me there, pinned to the ground, and thought I was easy pickings. Why not? After all, he had every right to be here. Maybe he felt like it was his right and responsibility to put me in my place. I don't know. I can't know.

Maybe I just had bad luck.

The really sad thing is I didn't even have it in me to marvel at the unfortunate turn of events in my life, the chaos that was probably also my fault. I was just too tired. I wanted to go to sleep and never think about it ever again.

But Weasley was only getting started.

A/N: Dun dun dun!

As I mentioned on my profile, I've mapped out the remainder of the story and plan to be writing regularly until I'm done. There are ten more chapters after this one and an epilogue (if everything goes to plan). Thanks again for sticking with me!

Until next time, here's a spoiler for the next chapter:

"How did you think this was going to end, then? You thought you could just be with her? And then what? Marry her? Have a couple of kids? You? A Death Eater?"