"You," hissed Hermione Granger, thrusting her wand out from underneath the folds of her robes. The frigid air of the Ministry's Hall of Prophecy raised goosebumps on her forearm. She'd never have expected to end up back here, especially after the Ministry tightened the security following You-Know-Who's last break-in... Yet here she was, shivering among the hundreds of towering shelves full of dusty, glowing orbs. Well, the ones that hadn't been destroyed in their last chase.

She glared hard at the back of the familiar silhouette, reminding herself to keep a cool head. Harry was only a few aisles away; they had decided to split up to try and find the trespasser quickly. She just had to signal to him without alarming the Slytherin… or anyone else who may have been lurking nearby. Though the Ward she had personally placed on the Hall had only sensed one intruder, she personally knew of several different ways to fool such a spell, and didn't intend to lower her guard any time soon.

Draco Malfoy turned around, sighing. The sight of his face beneath an upturned Death Eater mask- worn almost as a hat- made her blood boil.

"You weren't supposed to be here, Granger," he said, quickly drawing his own wand.

"I figured you'd be on their side," Hermione spat, outstretched hand trembling, "but I didn't think you'd actually be getting your hands dirty. Why on earth are you here?"

"Expelliarmus!" He hissed in response, a blue light emitting from the tip of his wand. Hermione gasped in horror as her wand was plucked from her fingers. She watched helplessly as it flew through the air and into his waiting hand. Merlin! How had he cast that spell so quickly? Moreover, how had she let him?

And now he had her wand, and she was grasping nothing but air. Hermione Granger was suddenly at Draco Malfoy's mercy. She watched him cautiously, taking a few steps back.

The grin that would have typically overrun his face after such a victorious move against the Brightest Witch of her Age was nowhere to be seen. Hermione latched onto this fact, hoping that she could stall for time until Harry or Ron could spot him.

"What, Malfoy?" she pressed, "not in the mood for a fight? How very out of character for you."

"I have a mission." He stated plainly, not taking the bait, "where are Potter and Weasley? I know they're here."

"They aren't," she lied quickly, "they're in the … Time Room… looking for you."

"Hm," Draco said, eyes narrowing, "I don't believe you."

With a surprising speed, wand still pointed at her in a non-verbal threat, he crossed the space between them. Draco reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her roughly toward his. She was about to yelp out in surprise when his gloved hand clamped firmly down on her mouth.

"You're going to come with me," the Slytherin said, his grey eyes bearing down into hers, "you're going to be my shield, and you're going to do it while keeping your fucking mouth shut."

Hermione glared up at her captor, a spark of hatred flaring throughout her body. She realized then that she had never been so close to the young Malfoy, and she had never been touched by him either. The thought of it made her skin crawl. His gloved hand was locked around her wrist, and she wondered if there was any way to get out of this mess.

"Do you understand?" He asked, speaking slowly, as if she was dumb. She wanted to bite down onto his finger until her teeth tore through the glove and pierced his skin… but instead Hermione nodded.

"Good," he said, finally leaning back but not relinquishing his iron hold on her. "If you do exactly as I say, I won't have to kill you."

Such a statement from the blonde prat would have previously made her burst out into uncontrollable laughter, but now, as she stood shivering in the cursed air, under the deadly serious gaze of a Draco Malfoy she had never seen before… She realized he was telling the truth.

A flash of Sirius's pale face, only a few rooms away, disappearing forever behind the veil floated through her mind. She winced at the painful memory, knowing full well that she had to navigate this situation carefully. Harry couldn't lose anyone else he loved in this Merlin Forbidden place, and she certainly didn't plan on going out like this either.

"Hermione?" Harry's voice called. Draco looked sharply towards his voice, crouching low and pulling the Gryffindor girl with him.

"Did you find her?" She heard Ron ask, accompanied by cautious footsteps. Her heart fluttered, they were getting closer!

"No."

"Blood hell, you think she's been taken!?"

"Hermione? Where are you!?" Harry called out again, more alarmed than the first time. She itched to call out in response, but a sudden jab at her temple made her think twice. Draco's wand was prodding pointedly against her skull. Hermione could practically feel the vibrations of the unforgivable curse waiting to be released upon her.

"Don't. Say. A. Word," Draco growled, hoisting her up with him and quickly making his way down their aisle, dragging her along with him. She realized that this was her chance to make noise without seeming like she meant to…

Her feet fumbled beneath her and she dropped to her knees, thumping painfully (and hopefully loudly) against the freezing concrete.

"You stupid mudblood," Draco hissed, hoisting her back up by her robes and running even quicker down the aisles of Prophecies and toward the door leading to the exit.

"Harry!" Ron cried in the distance, "I heard something! Over there!"

"Hermione!?" Harry cried, his voice echoed through the clammy air along with the pounding footsteps which marked the boys' pursuit.

Draco turned sharply, yanking Hermione's wrist painfully along the way as he dipped and dodged through the maze of glowing orbs. He bumped into one of them, knocking a prophecy from its place. It shattered on the floor, extinguishing the blue flame in a puff of smoke. The crash was deafeningly loud.

"She's there! Someone has her!" Ron cried, his lit wand illuminating the two of them as they retreated.

"Fuck," Draco cursed under his breath, not looking back. A curse flew by them, grazing by Hermione close enough to ruffle her hair. She bit back a horrified scream as the orbs next to her exploded on impact.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?!" Harry cried behind them.
"Trying to stop him!"

"And kill her in the process?!"

She could feel Draco pull her even closer to him to the point where she was almost tripping on his feet. Once they were at the ancient door leading into the main corridor, the young Death Eater suddenly froze and spun on his toe. He maneuvered her in front of him, holding her at arms length with his wand pointed over her shoulder and at her friends.

"Don't take another bloody step," Draco growled, "I'm serious."

Harry and Ron skidded to a halt, eyes wide at the realization of who her captor was.

"Malfoy!?" Ron gasped.

"Let her go, you snake!" Harry hissed.

"Boys, don't worry about me. Go get help," she pleaded.

"You're barmy!" Ron cried.

"We aren't leaving you here with him," Harry said, taking a determined step toward her.

"Harry, no!" Hermione stressed and an instant later, felt Draco's wand pressed roughly against the back of her skull. She sucked in a distressed breath and Harry halted once more.

"Drop your wands or say goodbye," Draco warned, "I'm not afraid to kill her."

A tense moment passed between the three of them, and the air seemed to swirl around the room as the boys sized up the severity of the situation.

"Bloody hell," Ron cursed under his breath. He looked at Harry, who looked back at him. They seemed to converse with only their eyes. After another few moments, the two boys let their wands clatter loudly to the stone floor, powerless to do anything at the cost of their best friend's life.

"Kick them away." Draco demanded. Neither Gryffindor moved. "NOW!" He bellowed.

They reluctantly kicked their wands, which rolled away haplessly into the darkness.

Just as quickly as Draco had halted their escape, he started it back up. He yanked her backwards and out into the hallway. She wanted to break away, but the threat of her own death lingered in her brain. How could this be happening? She wondered. What on earth was his mission? What could the Dark Lord possibly want from the Department of Mysteries again?

He dragged her down the dark corridor, the illuminated tip on his wand leading the way. As soon as the ancient door creaked shut behind them, they heard what was clearly Ron and Harry searching for their wands in the darkness, accompanied by no fewer than twelve prophecies smashing to the floor and roughly the same number of swears.

Draco dragged Hermione roughly to one of the first doors in the corridor. "Alohomora!" Draco cast hurriedly, seeming to sense that his time was limited. The ancient, rotted door slowly opened with a sound strangely akin to a death rattle.

"In here," Draco hissed and Hermione's heart dropped into her stomach as he pushed her into the inky darkness. The Department of Mysteries was the most dangerous place a wizard or witch could find themselves in. Each room was filled with curious, wondrous, and- more often than not- deadly magical mysteries. She swallowed hard, her mind running through the hundreds of scenarios the room could hold for them, almost certainly ending in their death.

"Malfoy, you must realize that this is a bad idea," she whimpered as he shut the door quietly behind them, his lumos fading away. They were swallowed by the darkness, and Hermione felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She could practically taste the magic in this room. It was a deep and ancient magic, more powerful than she had ever felt. She could feel it drumming through her heart and flowing through her blood.

"Be quiet, Granger," he whispered, clamping his hand back down against her mouth. She strained hard to listen past the pounding of her heart and the buzzing in her brain. As she sat still, pressed against Draco with his wand still digging painfully into her temple, her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. Soon, she began to make out shapes glowing dimly. There were strange looking structures, looking almost like… oversized bird baths? They almost looked like the kind that her mother had placed in the garden for the little finches that lived in the area to cool off in. Were they pensieves? They looked quite similar. They lined the room, which stretched much farther than she had expected. The room wasn't small at all. It was long, but skinny. Like a coffin, she realized with a painful swallow. She had to do something. This was bad. Bad. Bad. Bad.

Panicking, Hermione bit down on Draco's hand, which had loosened slightly as he strained to listen for Harry and Ron's footsteps. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth and he launched away from her, cursing loudly.

"Fuck! You bloody BIT ME!"

She wasn't sure what had compelled her to do it, but every instinct woven into her being had been screaming at her to get out of there right then and there… Even if that meant taking the chance that Malfoy would hurt her, she somehow felt that was still the safer option.

"I heard something! In there!"

Ron's voice. A small triumphant smile graced her lips.

As the boys' footsteps approached, Draco spun away from glaring at Hermione, quickly wiping the small spots of blood from his hand as he began hurriedly casting spells to lock and reinforce the door.

Sensing a fleeting opening, Hermione quietly crossed the room before launching herself at Draco. She managed to get her hand around his wand, but she was quickly knocked back as Draco deftly slipped her own wand out of his sleeve and brandished it at her.

The ancient door gave a sudden lurch, accompanied by a low grunt that told Hermione Ron must have thrown himself against it. Thinking quickly, Hermione began to shout. "He's used a locking charm and an immovab-"

As soon as he realized what Hermione was saying, Draco leaped toward her in an attempt to cover her mouth once more. In the darkness, he tripped over an uneven patch on the floor and barreled into his classmate instead, cutting off her shouting with a loud gasp.

Off balance, Draco's momentum was enough to spin both of them the few meters remaining to the nearest waist-high basin. Hermione pushed back against him, attempting in vain to right herself, but Draco had a death grip on her robes. With one final stumble, he fell backward into the wide basin, yanking her back with him. With a last gasp, Hermione fell headlong after Draco into the large container of murky liquid.

The expected splash never came. Instead, it felt as if they had fallen headfirst into a pit. Hermione was overcome with a sense of vertigo as all the air rushed from her lungs, the terrifying feeling of freefall overcoming her. In mid-air, they continued their tussle for their wands, grabbing at one another. Amidst their battle, Hermione saw flashes of light and shadow in the murky air, and heard random snippets of sound. It was as if screams and whispers had been tossed in a blender and poured into her ears. Suddenly, Draco's iron grip on her released and she felt him being sucked roughly away from her. And with him, both of their wands.
What was happening? Where were they going? What had Draco Malfoy gotten them into?

She squeezed her eyes shut and curled her body in on itself as the whirling colors and sounds and rushing wind spun around her faster and faster until it was a cacophony of sensory overload - Oh Merlin, she was going to vomit!

. . .

It took her a moment to realize that the world had gone silent. Ears ringing, she opened her eyes, blinking rapidly as she attempted to dispel the fuzzy bits of her vision and reorient herself. It took a few moments for her to register that she was in the back of a car. The white and black interior smelled new, like fresh leather and new rubber. She could tell right away that this car was expensive.

But it wasn't just any sort of fancy car, she realized, blinking away the spots from her vision… This was one of those classic cars from the start of the industrial revolution. One of the first models ever produced, she realized. She recognized the interior from the numerous car shows her dad had dragged her to as a child. But what business did an outdated car like this have being connected to a basin in the Ministry of Magic? Had it been a portkey? And more importantly, where was Draco Malfoy with their wands?

The car door next to her opened, and she jumped in her seat, yelping in horror.
"Come on now," a feminine, slightly raspy voice came, and Hermione looked down to find a stern looking woman. Her hair was pinned back into tight, decorative curls beneath a cartoonishly large lilac hat. Despite the impatient look the woman was giving her, Hermione didn't respond... She was too busy trying to wrap her brain around the woman's appearance. Her dress was peculiar, and not just a wizarding-world peculiar. As in, completely irrational, given the current year. The ruffled coat was cinched tightly around her small frame, giving her the appearance of one of those historical victorian wives.
"I'm not going to ask again," the woman snapped, eyes darting about nervously.

"I'm … not... feeling very well," Hermione murmured, bringing her hands up to rub nervously at her face.

"What are you doing?! You're smudging your lipstick!" she reprimanded and Hermione glanced at her fingers, noting distantly that they were covered in a sickly red shade.

I don't remember putting on lipstick, Hermione thought dumbly, still reeling from her drop into this strange situation.

"What's all this?" A girl with kind eyes and a white bonnet popped into view next to the older woman, "Are you feeling alright, Annabelle?" A spark of concern lit her freckled face.

"She's fine, Lottie. Go tend to our luggage. Make sure none of those degenerates steal anything," she snapped back, causing Hermione to wonder distantly who Annabelle was.

"Yes, madame," Lottie said before dashing away.

"To be on a ship for seven days with so many of those people," the woman shuddered, shaking out a handkerchief and dabbing dramatically at her forehead.

"To be on a what?" Hermione asked, her muddled thoughts pulling through enough to register that they seemed to be going on a journey.

"For heaven's sake, Annabelle, what has gotten into you?" The lady hissed, reaching out to pull Hermione from the cabin of the automobile. The Gryffindor girl stumbled on teetering heels down to the stone ground, the salty smell of the ocean along with the acidic punch of gasoline, coal, and new paint blending to create the strangest scent greeting her. Her stomach churned unpleasantly. Why were they calling her Annabelle? That wasn't her name.

A blaring horn interrupted her whirling thoughts- it was so loud it shook her down to her bones and rattled her teeth. She turned her head in alarm and found herself staring up at the largest, grandest ship she had ever seen. The black and white hull glimmered in the sunlight, the four golden smokestacks jutted proudly into the clear blue sky and hundreds of people were milling about on the deck, waving and laughing. Her heart sank. She knew this ship. How could she not? She had grown up in muggle London, and the image of this ship had been burned into her brain from all of the books, shows, and documentaries that surrounded her as a child.

It was the RMS Titanic. The ship that was doomed to sink on the fourth day of its seven day journey with 1,500 souls still trapped inside… and she was about to board it, somehow. For what was certainly not the first time since she was introduced to the world of Magic, Hermione found herself at an absolute loss of logical thought. She swayed on her feet, suddenly going pale.

"Oh, heavens. She's going to faint. Horace, help me get her back into the car," the woman said, and Hermione dimly registered a tall, looming figure of a man approach her.

It was then that the contents of her stomach from that night's dinner found its way up her esophagus and onto her pretty, unfamiliar high heels. Shortly after, her world went dark.

A/N: Hello all! New year, new fic, new me. This is an alt universe, obviously… There's going to be a big change in Draco's story line. Also I know Hermione didn't actually put a ward in the Ministry of Magic to detect any intruders, but I didn't think it was too much of a stretch to imagine she would. I don't want to give away too much about why Draco was lurking around the Hall of Prophecies, so you'll have to read and find out. ;)

I guess what I'm trying to say is please be kind when it comes to deviations from the canon storyline/rules! I really had to make stuff stretch to get them on the Titanic in a way that felt borderline realistic.

Also this will definitely be following certain plot points from the Titanic movie, but this fic will subvert the moments and transform them into something else. You can look at this fic almost as an homage to the film, but not a reboot/copy. I thought that would be a fun way to tackle this fic! Best of both worlds.

Also I bet you all know where Draco ended up, but I want to hear your thoughts/theories. leave me some words :) You can also ask questions but I won't answer if they're gonna spoil you!