Unbidden Love Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen: In Death’s Grip

It was most likely a consequence of the emotional distress Hermione had experienced within the past twelve hours, but it still made Hermione feel like a powerless, stereotypical damsel in distress when Ron told her breathlessly that she had fainted in his arms.

“I…what…” she breathed, her head too light to form a proper sentence. She concentrated hard on Ron’s face as she inhaled the sharp, consuming scent of wet dirt and grass. Her weak vision took in the cool tones of leaves and thick bushes. It was quiet in the trees where she lay, but she faintly caught the drone of voices beyond their haven.

“Ron, is everything…”

“I’m fine, Harry’s fine,” Ron cut in hastily. Despite his words, his face was abnormally pale and his eyes darted around their surroundings continuously. He remained in a tense, crouched position in the grass, as if prepping himself to jump up at the slightest movement.

“Then why…” Hermione whispered.

“Shh!” Ron cut her off with a finger to his lips. “Not now. They’re not far behind us.”

Quick, pounding footsteps crunched under the fallen leaves and grass, each step growing louder and louder to the couple. Hermione instinctively reached for Ron’s hand and gripped it as a figure rounded the corner and came into sight.

But it was only Harry. His glasses with slightly askew, his face was filthy with streaks of dirt, and a few tears were visible in his trousers and shirt. He was out of breath as he pointed his lit wand at Ron and Hermione.

“Hermione, you alright?”

But he hardly waited after Hermione nodded before launching himself closer. “Hermione, where the hell are we? Where did Malfoy bring you?”

Hermione’s mouth opened and closed worthlessly. She struggled to recall what Draco had told her when they had first Apparated into the woods, but nothing came to her mind.

Harry groaned loudly in frustration. “Damn it, Malfoy, you worthless sod!” He kicked a small tree so forcefully it wavered on the spot. “There are no Apparition spots in this whole bloody forest! And I bet he was only too thrilled to learn that Ron and I had found our way here, unknowingly walking into a trap! They’re going to have us surrounded in minutes; there are only so many places for them to look. I can just see that fucking bastard hiding in his Manor, chuckling to himself at the thought of us playing a deadly game of Hide and Seek with the Neo-Death Eaters. If we ever get out of this alive, I have a certain Unforgivable Curse I’ve been longing to throw at that arrogant…”

“Harry, stop!”

Harry and Ron glanced at her with both shock and concern.

“’Mione, I thought you’d be the one to throw around curse words in reference to Draco Malfoy,” Ron said after a moment. “He’s the one who’s trying to kill you, after all.”

“No, he’s not!” Hermione blurted out, pushing herself up so that her back could rest against a trunk. “This can’t be his fault!”

Hermione had never seen such expressions on her best friends’ faces. They both held a rather amusing mix of consternation and appalled disbelief, as if secretly believing she had suffered a terrible concussion.

“Hermione, are you hearing the words you’re saying?” Harry asked slowly and carefully, as if speaking to a small child. “We’re talking about Draco Malfoy, our old favourite Slytherin enemy from Hogwarts, not the Draco Malfoy you met online in a chat room.”

“Yes, I’m perfectly aware of what I’m implying,” Hermione sniffed in a rather condescending voice. “I don’t think you all understand what this is all about! The Neo-Death Eaters may be after us, but Draco can’t be aware of it. He left me a few hours ago and can’t…” She stopped, swallowing hard at the sudden stinging in her throat and eyes. For some reason, the words ‘he left me’ and the memory behind them had brought up a complex web of emotions. Emotions she didn’t want to consider now or ever…

“Bloody hell, he’s brainwashed her!” Ron gasped, feverously studying her like he believed she was an imposter using Polyjuice Potion. “Harry, he did something to her!”

Harry, too, was breathing heavily and analyzing her like he couldn’t believe the situation. Hermione felt almost ill at the looks she was receiving and a sensation similar to panic rose up in her stomach. She was about to blurt out something to repair whatever had happened when…

“MOVE!” Harry screamed, tossing a spell behind him as dark shadows rose from the ground and darkened the trees.

Ron grabbed her arm and hauled her up before dragging her in the opposite direction. Hermione struggled to keep up, but she found her body to be agonizingly weak and she tripped often on roots and grub. Ron urged her onward, but her pace became slower and stiffer the harder she tried to push herself.

Please… she begged inwardly. Please don’t let them catch us. Please don’t let them kill Ron and Harry. I won’t survive without them!

Hermione chanced a glance behind her and saw three cloaked figures rushing after them. Harry was a few paces behind Ron and Hermione, often running backwards in order to cast spells at their opponents. The trees were so vast and nestled tightly that it was near impossible to aim correctly with so many natural obstacles. Several trees came crashing to the ground as both their curses and some of the Neo-Death Eaters’ hit trunk after trunk.

Their only advantage was their youth. They were more agile than the older men in cloaks, and without brooms or Apparition available, they had to rely on their mortal bodies alone. The trio knew that they’d be running toward their unidentifiable destination until someone collapsed from exhaustion. They only prayed that the loss of energy would occur among the Neo-Death Eaters first.

Just as Hermione feared another fainting spell, a memory came to her unbidden. She gasped and Ron turned to her with concern.

“The lake!” she breathed, the words barely coming out in-between her gasps for breath. “We Apparated here by the edge of the lake…”

Harry responded to her words first. “This way!” he cried, somehow finding the strength to pelt past them and steer them left. Hermione wasn’t sure how he knew where the lake was, but she had no choice but to trust him. But if he was leading them incorrectly and they had to backtrack, surely they’d run into a Neo-Death Eater at one turn or another.

It was only a matter of time before they hit a dead end.

But Harry’s mind was still functioning even in that terrifying circumstance. Before long, Hermione noticed the distinct scent of wet moss and seaweed. After about a minute of sensing it, the lake made its appearance at the bottom of a small decline in the earth.

“Quick, don’t stop!” Harry screamed as Hermione felt her legs weaken and slow. Breathing was now like inhaling through red-hot, fiery lungs, and her legs were burning so fiercely Hermione feared her muscles ripping in two.

Seeing her teetering on the edge of unconscious, Ron swept her off her feet and - despite how difficult it was to run with her in his arms - managed to get both of them to the edge of the lake.

But they were too late. One of the Neo-Death Eaters had somehow taken a detour and was creeping up from the left side of the lake, his wand raised and pointing straight at Harry.

Like a film in slow motion, Hermione watched the Death Eater’s lips curl and mouth the killing curse.

“NO!”

A blast of green light jetted out of the man’s wand and, almost at the same time, Hermione flung herself out of Ron’s arms and toppled Harry to the ground. Hermione looked up to find the green jet a few feet away, blinding her as it came closer and closer to its target.

Instinctively, Hermione squeezed her eyes shut as she lowered herself completely over Harry, protecting him the best she could.

Her last thought was: Please, God, don’t let them be killed after me.

But the deadly impact of the curse never hit. Even with her eyes closed, Hermione felt a new presence nearby. A deep, smooth voice cried a spell and, in response, a scream echoed across the water.

Jolted back, Hermione whipped her eyelids open and instantly thought she was dreaming. Draco Malfoy, a dark cloak covering his body, was crying out spell after spell at the converging Neo-Death Eaters. One Death Eater, the one who had almost succeeded in killing her, lay about a dozen feet from her and Harry. His body was sprawled out in the sand. He was not moving.

The remaining ones were starting to retreat, and the reason was obvious to Hermione: they no longer knew who they had permission to kill. Draco, the “leader” of the Neo-Death Eaters, had just saved the trio from death by his own cult’s hand. He was still protecting them now, and the Death Eaters were shocked senseless at this occurrence. One by one, they Disapparated in the sand and left the trio alone with Draco Malfoy.

Malfoy was shaking as he clutched his wand with a white-knuckled grip. His teeth were clenched and his jaw shook with…anger? Revulsion?

It took a moment for Harry and Ron to come back to reality. But once they did, the effect was immediate: the air around them thickened with the men’s hate. Harry pushed Hermione behind him and silently warned her to remain there with one dangerous look. Ron took his place at Harry’s side, and the revulsion on his face rivaled Draco’s.

“Give me one good reason why I should not kill you right here, Malfoy!” Harry cried, his voice booming across the lake and frightening birds nestled in the nearby trees.

“One good reason?” Draco drawled, his tone considerably softer and less fierce than Harry’s. “Maybe that I just saved you and Granger from death, Potter. Is that reason enough for your condemnatory mind?”

Fierce red and gold sparks shot out of Harry’s wand, but Draco simply glanced at them with interest.

“Whatever game you’re playing at, Draco, it ends here!” Ron hissed, his wand tip now only inches from Draco’s heart. “You’ve done something to Hermione that’s poisoned her. She thinks that you’re not responsible for this! She doesn’t believe you’re out to kill her! That’s why we’re to kill you before you can do the same to her.”

At these words, Draco and Hermione’s eyes met and lingered for a long, silent moment. Draco’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, and he seemed to be silently asking her if Ron spoke the truth…if she truly believed he wasn’t plotting her demise. Hermione glimpsed another weakening emotion in his eyes before he glanced back to Harry and Ron and the connection was broken.

Draco was silent for awhile before he spoke in a soft, almost peaceful voice. “I am not responsible for the thoughts that run through Granger’s head. I have placed no spell upon her that changes how she feels. But I doubt you believe that, Weasley.”

“To hell I don’t!” Ron spat, pressing his wand deep into Draco’s chest. Hermione flinched and sat up higher on her knees, but Harry pushed her back down before she could rise.

“Before we kill you,” Harry began, “I’d like to know why. Why Hermione? Why not me? If you’re after information, I’d be more likely to know it than her.” Such terrible hatred poured from his body that it sent a chill through Hermione. She had never seen her best friends look so…dangerous. They really did seem willing and able to kill.

And Draco looked…resigned to it. He was now calm, free of tension, his wand stowed in his trouser pocket. This terrified Hermione worse than the darkness in her friends’ eyes. The truth was obvious now: Draco wasn’t going to fight them. He wasn’t going to try and protect himself. Harry and Ron could cry the curse at any second, and he wouldn’t be able to react in time…

Hermione’s chest heaved, the tears starting to burn, and she cried out before she could stop herself.

“Draco, no!”

Three pairs of eyes rested upon her in total astonishment. No one seemed to breathe as Hermione felt their unspoken questions weigh down upon her heavily. She sunk lower onto the ground.

The break in tension didn’t last long. The attack came unannounced and from a distant corner of the trees. A sharp blast of light struck Harry directly and he crumbled to the ground with a piercing scream, blood soaking through his shirt.

Hermione’s heart seemed to stop as she glanced back and noticed the one Neo-Death Eater who had not left them. He was smiling as he crept closer to his target, his wand still aimed at the writhing Harry on the ground.

Hermione didn’t know what to do as she watched Harry bleed to death in front of her. Crimson fluid soaked the sand and drifted in small streams toward the water, where it coloured the clear liquid with sinister swirls.

“GO!” Draco screamed at whoever would listen. He already had his wand out and was blasting spells at the Death Eater in rapid succession.

“Hermione, grab on!” Ron called to her. His voice seemed to travel to her from a distance, the sounds bouncing off her brain and never sinking in.

He wanted her to Disapparate with him, she finally understood. Ron was clutching a semi-conscious Harry as he held out a shaking hand to her. Hermione had barely grasped his fingers when a spell zoomed above her hand, its heat burning her skin.

Hermione screamed and pulled her hand back impulsively. When she looked up again she found that Ron and Harry were gone. They had Disapparated without her.

Panic flooded her mind and she couldn’t move. Her heart pounded painfully against her chest and a tear slipped from her eye. It was all over now. Surely the death curse was being aimed at her this very second…

Someone grabbed her arm and she screamed and jerked in its grip, but she was in a vulnerable position and couldn’t escape. Suddenly the lake and woods disappeared in a dizzying blur and her feet left the ground.

The next moment, her feet hit something hard like rock and she slipped on the wet surface. Strong arms grabbed her and held her tight.

“Stop, you’re safe now.”

The ocean, she soon discovered, was directly beside them and its deafening roar made it difficult to catch the words spoken to her. But she couldn’t mistake the comforting arms around her for anyone else…

Draco had saved her from death once more.