Fairy Tale
by InsolventDarkTazz

"Mummy? Would you please tell me the story again?" Pleaded a small six-year-old, as her Mother lovingly smoothed over her floral covers, fluffed frilly pillow's and generally made a fuss. The girls room was simply furnished, but even so the little room was filled with warmth, comfort and security.

"It is very late darling." Mother sighed; it was the same routine every night.

"I know but… Please?" The small girl gave her mother the 'puppy-eyes', it was her best weapon. Mother would always give in when faced with large innocent grey eyes, her turned down mouth and lowered head, it was a sure winner. On cue, Mother grinned and her hand brushed softly through her beloved daughter's light-brown hair.

"How can I say no to that face? Hmm? Alright… But when I finish you must go to sleep." Mother teasingly chastised. She poked her daughter's nose, causing it to scrunch cutely and giggle.

"Yes Mum." The daughter made a show of snuggling into her bed and pulling the blankets high over her mouth. Her light-grey eyes sparkled with anticipation in the dim candlelight.

"Before you were born, before your father and I were even married," Mother began, "The world was clouded in darkness. It was unlike what you or I see today… It was cold, dark and filled with unimaginable dangers…"

She stood on a bridge, the seawater rushing below her feet. It was rough, unforgiving and almost black in colour, thick storm clouds perpetually made the world grey and gloomy. Lightning flashed and streaked across the sky, in a never-ending cycle of eerily silent chaos. She was totally and completely alone out here; in this broken husk of a world she no longer recognised.

Unable even to return to her country of birth; she'd left it and ran away… Away from something that she very much doubted could never be out run. He would never be forgotten, He would just keep killing, keep hunting them, keep cutting a bloody path into her very soul. That man, no... Monster was the Dark Lord Voldemort.

Britain had fallen and yet, he was still not satisfied. With sickening glee, He broadened his horizons and began to spread His suffocating darkness through-out Europe. Slowly, inevitably, Voldemort was realising his dream.

Sighing whole-heartedly, she looked up at the billowing, angry sky, hoping for a whisper of blue. Nothing. Just like yesterday, and a week before that, and a year before that. She wondered briefly when the last time was when she had glimpsed blue sky. Perhaps this particular cloud did not have a silver lining?

The roar of a car engine pulled her back to the present. Slowly it grew louder, screaming down the bridge towards her. She turned to see the dim glow of the headlights in the distance. Maybe she wasn't alone after all?

Soon the headlights were blinding and she looked away, the engine slowed and the car stopped beside her. A mighty flash of lightening called the rain to fall, heavy and unmercifully hitting the ground. Desperately trying to cleanse the world of the darkness that was slowly killing it.

The car door opened; "Get in." A low male voice growled, "Now!" it snapped.

She pulled her brown cloak tighter around herself and got into the car, closing the door with a dull snap behind her. The heavy rain and wind continued to ring in her ears, the car accelerated sharply and once again reached a high speed. She shivered slightly and wrung her hands in front of the air vent in the dashboard, it stung her icy fingers.

"You'll catch your death standing out there." The deep mellow voice said from the other side of the car. "What were you thinking?"

She glanced out the window unwilling to meet his eyes, "Maybe I wasn't thinking…"

Her companion sighed heavily. "Hermione, I… Wewere worried. You mustn't do that, it's not safe."

"Nothing is safe anymore, Draco." Hermione snapped looking at the blonde. She huffed and returned her longing gaze to the grey city rushing past. "…Not even the rain."

Draco sighed, changing down a gear to turn into an old warehouse. Sometimes, though not as often as she used to, she was surprised at how well Draco had taken to driving. "Don't dwell 'Mione, it'll do you no good. What we have is what we have; no amount of wishing and standing in the rain will alter that." Draco parked the car and pulled the hand-break with more force than was strictly necessary.

Hermione rolled her eyes and opened the door of the car getting out and slamming it behind her. Draco flinched at the sound and got out of the car quickly.

"Well I'm sorry for having hoped that one day…" She sniffed; "One day we will have again what he did, and enjoy the simple pleasures of life!" She kicked the car in her anguish.

Draco glared at her; shutting his own door with more than a bit of his own frustration. "It's not for lack of trying Granger! What do you think we are doing here every day?" He made his way around the car to the door flinging his arms around in anger.

"Wasting time! We could be out there," She pointed to the outside world, just on the other side of the roller-door, the rain smacking the concrete, the rush of the ocean and the massing black clouds. "Fighting!"

"Suicide." Draco mumbled heatedly and slammed a clenched fist into the large button next to the entrance. The roller-door groaned and squeaked as the automatic motor sprung to life and pulled the heavy steel door closed.

Hermione shook her head and disappeared around a corner into the darkness of the warehouse. Draco watched and listened until he could no longer make out the sound of her frustrated footsteps. He pressed another button - with considerably less force – causing the electric lights to flicker and hummed for a moment before flooding the warehouse with artificial light.

The area before the blonde was a combination of armoury, parking-lot, science lab and workshop. It was the fruit of their labour, years of research and trial-and-error. Anything and everything magically enhanced for better concealment, easier use, and killing efficiency. This was one of the last forts left against the Dark Lord, and Draco would be dammed if his whole life was thrown away for nothing.

...tbc