Chapter 22

"On your knees."

"No."

"I will not repeat myself."

"Why did you bring me here? What do you want with me?"

Suddenly she felt her knees being forced down and she fell onto the floor with a loud thud. Crying out, she tried to get back up, but an invisible force was forcing her down. Not being able to see anything, she had trouble keeping her balance and had to use her arms to support herself. This was not a position she ever wanted to be in, especially not in front of Lucius Malfoy.

"See?" he spoke coldly, "This is where you belong. And I am going to teach you that, girl."

"Why are you doing this? Why me? I-I don't want to be here, just - "

"What?" he cut her off, "Do you wish to go back to the Battle field? It's been two days since the end of the War, but there are still horrible things happening there. You do not want to see that," then he chuckled, "Oh, but you cannot see anything, can you?"

Hermione almost let out a cry. She needed her sight back, she was almost willing to beg him to help her. The darkness was driving her mad.

"You should be grateful I brought you here," Lucius continued, then his tone got a playful tone, "You should thank me."

Silence.

"I was being serious, Mudblood."

Hermione looked up in the direction of his voice, "W-What?"

"Thank me for bringing you here. It's the least you can do."

"What? No!"

"Either you do as I say or I torture you with the Cruciatus Curse. I have heard you are a fairly reasonable girl."

Hermione wanted to cry so much at that moment. She was not ready for this. Why couldn't she just die? Why didn't she die with her friends? What was the point in surviving if this was her life now?

"Well, Mudblood?"

A few long hours later, or perhaps it was just minutes, Hermione actually started thinking of ways to end her life. She could drown herself in the bathtub, or perhaps she could hit her head really hard against the wall, or - ?

"Have you changed your mind?" Lucius sounded bored.

Hermione could feel the blood in her mouth, she bit her tongue during one of the Crucio attacks. Shaking her head no, she could not prevent the tears from spilling down her cheeks, but she wiped them away furiously. But then a small voice inside her head started to whisper horrible things. Why was she fighting him? She had lost everything already? What was she fighting for? The good side lost the war. Complying with his wishes would mean the end of pain. But would it? Would he really stop torturing her if she did what he asked?

Suddenly she could feel the air change. She could feel a presence next to her.

And then he spoke, "No one will know. Simply thank me and I will leave you alone."

He was kneeling down next to her and Hermione could smell him. All she wanted was to crawl away from him, but there was no way she could hide from him. And her body hurt so much.

She did however flinch when he brushed a stray of hair from her face. He immediately removed his hand.

"Well?"

Hermione remained silent.

"Do the right thing."

"T-Thank ..."

"Yes?"

She could hear it in his tone. He was pleased. He was enjoying this so much. Even though she could not see it, she could imagine a sick smirk on his face.

"Will you stop?" she forced herself to ask, "When I thank you...will you stop?"

"I give you my word," he drawled, but Hermione could hear the mocking in his voice.

He was lying and he wasn't even trying to cover it.

"Thank you."

The words were spoken quickly and quietly.

"You are thanking me for what?"

Of course.

Hermione took a deep breath, "Thank you, Mr. Malfoy, for taking me away from the Battle field and bringing me into your luxurious Manor."

"Now you have taken it a step too far. I can hear the sarcasm in your voice."

A desperate cry escaped her, but then she heard him get up and walk away from her.

"But," he said, "You are welcome."

"Wait!" she called after him, her eyes blinking furiously.

He said nothing, but she knew he was waiting for her to continue.

"What...what are you going to do with me? How long am I going to s-stay here?"

And then his laugh. Cold. Merciless.

"Oh, and where exactly do you think you are going?" he asked, clearly amused.

No. He couldn't possibly mean... why would he keep her at his house forever? Hermione was positive he would either kill her as soon as possible or hand her over to someone. But why keep her?

"You are never leaving. Your life is going to change, Mudblood."

And then the doors closed.

OOO

I am going to call Snape. This is too much. I need to know what is going on!

Hermione looked at the bracelet he had given her at the start of her spying career. She had not used it that much, only when it really was an emergency.

And just as she was about to call for him, the large wooden door burst open. And there he was.

Severus Snape.

Hermione could not hide her surprise, "Well, that was fast."

"Excuse me?"

"I-I was just about to call for you."

Snape looked alarmed, "Come, there is not much time."

"Why? What's happening?"

He did not answer, he simply grabbed her arm and almost dragged her out of the dungeon. Hermione knew something seriously bad was happening. Escaping from his forceful grip, she stopped walking, refusing to move.

"Tell me what is going on."

Snape looked annoyed, but seeing her determined expression, he gave in, "I need to get you out of here. The Manor is about to be attacked."

"What? The Resistance?"

"Yes. The Malfoy Manor. This is the last."

"The last what?"

"The only Death Eater's house that has not yet been taken down."

He gave her a few seconds for that to sink in.

"It's...it's happening?" Hermione finally asked.

"Not only that, Miss Granger. It is almost done. The control of the Wizarding World is again in our hands. We have taken over the Ministry, the Azkaban and - "

"Where's Lucius?"

Snape did not even try to hide the surprise on his face, "Why is that important, Miss Granger?"

"Where is he?" she raised her voice.

Silence.

Hermione could feel herself trembling, "What are you not telling me?"

"We should go. It is not safe."

"What do you mean it's not safe? The Resistance is good, they wouldn't do anything to us!"

"You need to realize that these attacks are dangerous. Sometimes, in battle, people are not very careful with who they have on the other end of the wand," he spoke slowly and calmly.

"You mean they are just going to set this whole place on fire, not caring who is in the house?"

It was not meant to be taken seriously, but her former teacher said nothing to object.

"Where's Lucius?" she demanded.

"Miss Granger, come with me. We have to leave."

"No!" Hermione raised her voice, "What are you hiding from me? I deserve to know!"

Snape let out a sigh, "Lucius is in his study room."

What is he doing in his study room?

"Does he know what is happening? Does he know he's in danger?" she asked, but got no answer.

Without thinking, she ran past Snape, down the long dark hallway, up the stairs, to the place where she knew she would find him.

Pushing the door open, she was struck with the silence in the room. Complete silence.

It took her a few moments to finally notice him. He was sitting in an armchair, next to the fireplace, looking completely relaxed. There was a glass of something in his hands, Hermione suspected it was alcohol.

"Lucius."

He looked at her, but did not seem surprised to see her.

Taking a few steps closer, she did not fail to notice he was dressed as if he was going somewhere or meeting very important people. Classy and elegant. His hair was in a ponytail. He even had his snake-headed walking stick beside him.

"Lucius," she tried again.

"You should leave."

"What?"

"Did Severus not get to you?"

"He did...wait, did you send him?"

At that moment she heard someone else enter the room. Turning around, she noticed Snape, looking a bit alarmed.

"She refused to leave with me," he said to Lucius.

"I understand."

"Perhaps you could - "

"Stop!" Hermione screamed, "Stop having a conversation as if I am not here! What is going on?"

Lucius finally forced himself to look at her, "I know, Mudblood."

"Know what?"

"Everything," Snape answered, moving closer to Hermione, "About you, about me, the Resistance."

"H-How?"

"Severus came earlier today to inform me," Lucius spoke calmly.

Hermione turned to look at her former teacher, "Why would you do that? You gave him the opportunity to escape."

"I did."

"Why?" she could not believe what was happening. Finally all the cards were on the table.

"Regardless of everything, his past, his sins, Lucius and I have a history. And regardless of what he thinks of me now, we were friends for more than two decades."

Lucius kept staring at the glass in his hand, his face not betraying any emotion.

Snape continued, "Also, you asked me a favor, Miss Granger."

"I-I asked for Lucius to be safe, but you said you couldn't guarantee anything."

He nodded, "That is true. When the attack happens, there will not be justice, there will be revenge."

Hermione's throat closed up, "That's not..."

What could she say? Fair? Lucius Malfoy and the other Death Eaters killed so many people, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, husbands ... How could she demand justice from those who were left behind and lost their family members?

She turned to Lucius, "If you stay here, you die."

He did not seem to be affected by that.

"Lucius! You are going to die!"

Finally he met her eyes.

"I know," he spoke.

Such a simple sentence.

"And that's it?" Hermione could not believe it, "You are going to sit here until they come and kill you?"

"Of course not," he replied, "I am going to fight them."

"And you are going to lose."

"I know."

Silence.

Hermione could not remember the last time she had a panic attack, but she was pretty sure she was starting to have one at that very moment. Running over to Lucius, she grabbed his arm, trying to pull him out of the armchair, trying to force him to stand up.

It was pointless.

She slipped and fell onto the floor.

Pathetic.

Standing up, she blinked the tears away, "Lucius, get up."

"Severus, take her away," he simply spoke, completely ignoring her.

"Get up!" she screamed at him, "You are not dying here. Not like this. You are not dying!"

"Mudblood. This is my Manor. I am not leaving."

"Yes, you are!"

And then he laughed, but it was fake, she could see it, "Do you hear yourself, Mudblood? This is your chance to see me pay for everything I have done. To finally have your revenge. To finally be rid of me."

"Not here. And not like this. If anything, I want to you have a fair trial and go to Azkaban."

He smirked, "You know that is not going to happen."

"I am not going to let you die."

"Severus, take her away from here."

Just as Snape took a step towards her, she raised her hand up to stop him, "Don't come any closer! I will not leave without him!"

Suddenly Lucius stood up, "Do you hear yourself? What do you want from me? What do you think there is between us?"

"I don't know. A-And I am not going to find out if you get killed today."

They stared at each other and it seemed as if time stopped. Neither of them wanted to give in, they were both too stubborn.

And then they heard it. An explosion.

"We have to leave now," there was panic in Snape's voice.

Shaking her head, Hermione stood beside Lucius, "No. I-I'll make sure you get a fair trial and - "

"Don't be an idiot," he cut her off, "There will be no trial. They are after blood. Just like we were."

She looked at Snape desperately, a question burning in her eyes. He simply nodded, "Lucius's right."

This was all wrong. It was not supposed to be like that. No one should be afraid of the good side, of the Order. When did they turn into murderers? Has it truly come this far? Now she would have to hide from the good side?

"I must not be seen here with you," Snape explained, extending his arm towards Hermione, "This is your last chance. Come with me."

Hermione stared at him, a part of her wanting to go, but she could not move. She had to stay.

Snape said nothing, he simply nodded his head in mild understanding. And the next moment he was gone.

"What the hell are you doing, you foolish girl?" Lucius snapped, "Suddenly you are concerned for my well being? After all these months of working against me?"

"You are not going to die here today!"

"And you are, if you do not leave right now."

"No."

Lucius grabbed her arm, "What do you want from me?"

"You owe me!" she screamed, "I will not let you take the easy way out! You owe me so much, Lucius!"

And then the doors burst open.

The study room was soon filled with screams, curses. Hermione was pushed aside and into the wall as she watched Lucius pull his wand out. He could try to fight, but she knew it was pointless. There were three men, they were all pointing their wands at the same person. Lucius Malfioy.

The first man attacked, sending a curse, but Lucius deflected it. But he was too slow for the second curse. It hit him in the shoulder and he cried out with pain, but kept fighting.

"Stop," Hermione whispered.

They are going to kill him. Lucius is going to die.

She had nothing to defend herself with. Nothing. All she could do was stand there and watch.

"Stop!" she screamed, anger taking over her and then it felt as if she was in a bubble and that bubble exploded.

Hermione watched in slow motion how all four men in the room were pushed back against the wall by some invisible force. They all lost conciousness.

And then there was silence.

It took Hermione a few moments to collect her thoughts and force herself to move. She ran to Lucius who was on the ground, but at least he was moving, blinking and coughing. The other men were still out of it.

"L-Lucius? Are you alright?"

"What...what did you do?" he asked, shock evident on his face.

"I don't know. W-Was it me?"

"I did not do it. Neither did they. It was you."

Hermione wished he would stop looking at her like that.

Picking up a wand that was on the floor, she handed it to him, "Leave!"

"Mudblood - "

"Leave now. There are others in the Manor, they'll be here any second!"

Without waiting for his reply, she helped him get up and then backed away.

Without saying anything, they looked at each other, realizing they might never see each other again. This could be the end. He could get killed. She could get killed.

They stared at each other until he finally disapparated.

He left the Malfoy Manor.

A/N: I knooooow. I don't know what happened. I simply lost all motivation. I had no idea where I was going with this story. I am still not sure, but I'll try to finish it. Sorry for the long wait! :/