This is a story about Draco/Hermione. If you're not a fan, then I doubt
you'd like this. But, who knows? Prove me wrong.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all in the Harry Potter universe.
Courage to Find the Strength
Chapter 1
Harmione slowly became conscious again. Her head felt thick and was dully throbbing, and she was overcome with a wave of nausea, but at least her vision was getting less blurry. She tried to shake her head to wake herself up when she became very aware of the position she was in. She was strapped to a large wooden plank that was suspended upright by chains to the ceiling of a dark dungeon. Her hands were manacled above her head to the top of the board by heavy chains. The room was very dark, and though she could see little else of the rest of her body, she didn't feel much was out of place or injured. When the chains above her gave a loud groan as she briefly struggled against them, she dimly saw two figures make their way towards her from the depths of the darkness beyond. She froze with fear and dread as the figures in black hooded robes stopped close to her and further panicked when she realized she didn't have her wand. Harmione felt her heart about to burst through her chest and was practically gasping for air as the two figures slowly peeled back their hoods. Inhaling sharply, she recognized the two as Lucius Malfoy and his bastard of a son, Draco. Lucius grazed the back of one hand down her cheek and coldly smiled when she violently turned away.
"See what I have brought you, son. The thorn in both our sides. Potter and his friends are really becoming quite the nuisance."
Harmione turned her head back towards them and watched them sneer down at her. Even at seventeen, Draco's expression hadn't changed. Cold, hard, bitter hatred glared out of his eyes.
"A nuisance isn't all Harry is going to be when he finds out what you're up to, Malfoy!" Harmione spit out at Lucius.
"Indeed, but you won't have to worry about that, my dear." He smiled down at her.
"When Harry comes for me, he'll wipe that stupid smirk off your ugly twisted." But she was cut off when Lucius viciously back-handed her.
"You will be civil to me, you disgusting little mudblood!" He bit out the words. Drawing a large serpentine dagger from the folds of his cload, Lucius handed it to his son.
"Now is your chance to prove your loyalty to the Dark Lord. Kill her!"
Draco's eyes widened slightly as he took the dagger from his father's hands. Harmione started to panic even more. "Yeah, do it, Malfoy, and end up just like your putrid father!"
Again she was backhanded for her words, but this time Draco was the oppressor. "Don't you dare talk about my father that way, bitch!" Her mouth and nose were bleeding and a large bruise was beginning to creep across her cheeks.
"What are you waiting for, boy! Kill her and become one of us! This isn't a choice! You have been destined for this moment since your very birth. Take your place with me. Take your rightful place as a pawn for our Dark Lord!" Lucius angrily hissed in his son's ear.
"Draco, please, don't listen to him." Hermione's soft voice urgently whispered to him. Hearing her call her by his first name, a thing she had never done before, made him hesitate, if only for a moment, with the dagger above her heart. "You don't have to do this! You don't have to be a pawn!"
Draco's expression changed from cruel intent, to uncertainty, to righteous wrath. Draco whirled on his father. "She's right. The mudblood bitch is right! I'm not your pawn. I'm not anyone's pawn!" His fury and injured pride shook his slender, but muscular frame. His eyes flashed defiance as he threw the dagger at his father's feet. The next moment, he was loosening the straps that held Hermione much to the girl's surprise. He began to unlock the manacles when Lucius grabbed his arm and spun him around to face him.
"What are you doing, boy?!" He snarled. Draco continued to free Hermione.
"What do you think I'm doing? I'm letting her go. As much as I despise the mudblood and her freakish friends, I'm not going to take my revenge just so I can kiss the Dark Lord's ass like you!" Just as he freed Hermione, Lucius punched his son in the jaw sending him stumbling across the room. Hermione slumped to the ground.
"You will do as I say! How dare you defy me?!" he screamed.
Draco wiped blood from his lip. He looked in a fury. His body tensed with violence. "I AM NO ONE'S PAWN!" Draco hollered at his father while lunging for him.
The elder Malfoy quickly pulled out his wand, and before his son's body could slam into him, he blasted Draco with an arc of electricity that sent the boy's body crashing into the far wall. He loomed over his fallen son and reaching down, jerked the boy's chin up to look at him.
"You are my pawn. The sooner you learn that, the longer I let you live. Or perhaps I really should have strangled you at birth." He said cruelly and with undisguised contempt. "Now, get up and kill that vile mudblood."
"No."
Lucius couldn't believe his ears. His son lay slumped over, barely conscious, bleeding and broken, and yet he still defied him. "What did you say?"
"I said no." It was little more than a whisper.
"Then die," Lucius stated matter-of-factly. He raised his wand, but then suddenly crumpled to the ground. Hermione stood behind him with a dislodged brick in her hands. Her eyes had a wild look to them when she dropped the brick and slumped to the floor next to Draco.
"We've got to get you out of here, Draco." She whispered to him, trying to get him to stand up by putting an arm around his body.
"Get away from me, Granger. Save yourself. When he comes to, he's going to kill you." It was said flatly with no emotion behind it. She saw his eyes fluttering as he tried to remain conscious.
"And what do you think he's going to do to you? Look, I'm not leaving here without you. You tried to save me. I'm going to repay the debt."
He could barely form the word, let alone find the strength to force it out. The pain was intense and clouded everything in his mind. "Why?"
"Because I don't like the thought of owing you anything, Malfoy." She gritted her teeth as she hauled him up. Although she regularly exercised, she wasn't all that strong. Yet, if she could find the strength to survive Lucius Malfoy, she would somehow find a way to get his son out of there.
"You've got to help me, Draco." But, it was no use, he had already passed out. She managed to drag him up the stairs, a feat she almost didn't accomplish. Laying him down by a door that led outside, she hunted around until she found a closet. Cursing her luck that she didn't have a wand, she spelled the first broom with enough magic to hopefully carry them back to Hogwarts. Hermione pulled the unconscious form into a sitting position and slid the broom underneath him. She wrapped her arms around his still form behind him and saying the final magic word, maneuvered her way through the open door out into the skies beyond.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all in the Harry Potter universe.
Courage to Find the Strength
Chapter 1
Harmione slowly became conscious again. Her head felt thick and was dully throbbing, and she was overcome with a wave of nausea, but at least her vision was getting less blurry. She tried to shake her head to wake herself up when she became very aware of the position she was in. She was strapped to a large wooden plank that was suspended upright by chains to the ceiling of a dark dungeon. Her hands were manacled above her head to the top of the board by heavy chains. The room was very dark, and though she could see little else of the rest of her body, she didn't feel much was out of place or injured. When the chains above her gave a loud groan as she briefly struggled against them, she dimly saw two figures make their way towards her from the depths of the darkness beyond. She froze with fear and dread as the figures in black hooded robes stopped close to her and further panicked when she realized she didn't have her wand. Harmione felt her heart about to burst through her chest and was practically gasping for air as the two figures slowly peeled back their hoods. Inhaling sharply, she recognized the two as Lucius Malfoy and his bastard of a son, Draco. Lucius grazed the back of one hand down her cheek and coldly smiled when she violently turned away.
"See what I have brought you, son. The thorn in both our sides. Potter and his friends are really becoming quite the nuisance."
Harmione turned her head back towards them and watched them sneer down at her. Even at seventeen, Draco's expression hadn't changed. Cold, hard, bitter hatred glared out of his eyes.
"A nuisance isn't all Harry is going to be when he finds out what you're up to, Malfoy!" Harmione spit out at Lucius.
"Indeed, but you won't have to worry about that, my dear." He smiled down at her.
"When Harry comes for me, he'll wipe that stupid smirk off your ugly twisted." But she was cut off when Lucius viciously back-handed her.
"You will be civil to me, you disgusting little mudblood!" He bit out the words. Drawing a large serpentine dagger from the folds of his cload, Lucius handed it to his son.
"Now is your chance to prove your loyalty to the Dark Lord. Kill her!"
Draco's eyes widened slightly as he took the dagger from his father's hands. Harmione started to panic even more. "Yeah, do it, Malfoy, and end up just like your putrid father!"
Again she was backhanded for her words, but this time Draco was the oppressor. "Don't you dare talk about my father that way, bitch!" Her mouth and nose were bleeding and a large bruise was beginning to creep across her cheeks.
"What are you waiting for, boy! Kill her and become one of us! This isn't a choice! You have been destined for this moment since your very birth. Take your place with me. Take your rightful place as a pawn for our Dark Lord!" Lucius angrily hissed in his son's ear.
"Draco, please, don't listen to him." Hermione's soft voice urgently whispered to him. Hearing her call her by his first name, a thing she had never done before, made him hesitate, if only for a moment, with the dagger above her heart. "You don't have to do this! You don't have to be a pawn!"
Draco's expression changed from cruel intent, to uncertainty, to righteous wrath. Draco whirled on his father. "She's right. The mudblood bitch is right! I'm not your pawn. I'm not anyone's pawn!" His fury and injured pride shook his slender, but muscular frame. His eyes flashed defiance as he threw the dagger at his father's feet. The next moment, he was loosening the straps that held Hermione much to the girl's surprise. He began to unlock the manacles when Lucius grabbed his arm and spun him around to face him.
"What are you doing, boy?!" He snarled. Draco continued to free Hermione.
"What do you think I'm doing? I'm letting her go. As much as I despise the mudblood and her freakish friends, I'm not going to take my revenge just so I can kiss the Dark Lord's ass like you!" Just as he freed Hermione, Lucius punched his son in the jaw sending him stumbling across the room. Hermione slumped to the ground.
"You will do as I say! How dare you defy me?!" he screamed.
Draco wiped blood from his lip. He looked in a fury. His body tensed with violence. "I AM NO ONE'S PAWN!" Draco hollered at his father while lunging for him.
The elder Malfoy quickly pulled out his wand, and before his son's body could slam into him, he blasted Draco with an arc of electricity that sent the boy's body crashing into the far wall. He loomed over his fallen son and reaching down, jerked the boy's chin up to look at him.
"You are my pawn. The sooner you learn that, the longer I let you live. Or perhaps I really should have strangled you at birth." He said cruelly and with undisguised contempt. "Now, get up and kill that vile mudblood."
"No."
Lucius couldn't believe his ears. His son lay slumped over, barely conscious, bleeding and broken, and yet he still defied him. "What did you say?"
"I said no." It was little more than a whisper.
"Then die," Lucius stated matter-of-factly. He raised his wand, but then suddenly crumpled to the ground. Hermione stood behind him with a dislodged brick in her hands. Her eyes had a wild look to them when she dropped the brick and slumped to the floor next to Draco.
"We've got to get you out of here, Draco." She whispered to him, trying to get him to stand up by putting an arm around his body.
"Get away from me, Granger. Save yourself. When he comes to, he's going to kill you." It was said flatly with no emotion behind it. She saw his eyes fluttering as he tried to remain conscious.
"And what do you think he's going to do to you? Look, I'm not leaving here without you. You tried to save me. I'm going to repay the debt."
He could barely form the word, let alone find the strength to force it out. The pain was intense and clouded everything in his mind. "Why?"
"Because I don't like the thought of owing you anything, Malfoy." She gritted her teeth as she hauled him up. Although she regularly exercised, she wasn't all that strong. Yet, if she could find the strength to survive Lucius Malfoy, she would somehow find a way to get his son out of there.
"You've got to help me, Draco." But, it was no use, he had already passed out. She managed to drag him up the stairs, a feat she almost didn't accomplish. Laying him down by a door that led outside, she hunted around until she found a closet. Cursing her luck that she didn't have a wand, she spelled the first broom with enough magic to hopefully carry them back to Hogwarts. Hermione pulled the unconscious form into a sitting position and slid the broom underneath him. She wrapped her arms around his still form behind him and saying the final magic word, maneuvered her way through the open door out into the skies beyond.