Chapter 24

Nightmares

"How could you be so stupid?" Keegan shouted out at Layla.

"I don't know…" Layla answered, feeling a bit weak kneed.

"Lay off, Keegan," Hermione gave him a glance, "You don't know if you would be able to handle it."

"I'm sure I could have done a hell of a lot better than little miss happy go lucky over here." Keegan sighed, "Look at us; we don't even know where we're going!"

"Keegan, just shut up!" Theo grumbled as he turned over to Draco, "But seriously, we do need to figure out where we're going."

"Okay, just, hold on, everyone just stop for a minute." Draco let out a deep breath as he looked around the street names. "I don't know where we are—we're practically in the middle of nowhere. But if I can find a way to contact Snape…"

"We don't have time to contact Snape!" Blaise began, "I realize that he's a good guy and everything and that he'd be willing to help, but they've already sent out snatchers."

"Snatchers?" Hermione questioned, "What are snatchers?"

"What do they bloody sound like?" Keegan crossed his arms.

"I swear to Merlin, I'm going to—" Hermione started as she began walking over to Keegan.

"Okay, stop!" Draco shouted, "We're not getting anywhere by fighting."

"We have to get moving, we're losing daylight." Adrian began talking.

"Wow, what a helpful suggestion," Brendon looked over at the boy.

"Oh, because you were throwing out some really good ones," Adrian bit back.

"Can you not see that he's trying to form a plan?" Daren looked over at the boys as though they were inferior.

"If we would all just calm down and try to think about this rationally…" Duncan suggested.

"We should split up." Layla finally spoke up. All eyes fell on her within seconds. "No, I'm serious, we should. It will confuse them. Most importantly, I need to be away from you two," She pointed at Hermione and Draco.

"Layla, we can stick together," Hermione insisted.

"No, I think she's right," Draco agreed with Layla whose glance quickly met his.

"Draco," Hermione nudged him, "We are not going to let her go off by herself to Merlin knows where and get herself killed by some—some snatcher, whatever the bloody hell that is!"

"Hermione's pregnant." Draco suddenly said. Everyone turned to look at Hermione. "That's why I think that if we split up, Granger and I should be off by ourselves. I'm sorry, but I can't let anything happen to either of them."

"Draco, you promised me," Hermione whispered.

"I'm sorry," He shook his head, "I'm sorry…but it needs to be this way, I need to protect you, no matter what."

"You're pregnant?" Blaise moved closer towards the girl, "With Draco's baby?"

"Y—yes," Hermione nodded.

"This is insane," Blaise looked over at Draco, "But, congratulations, mate."

"Thank you,"

"How far along are you?" Keegan wondered.

"Um, like four months—five months tops," Hermione uncomfortably answered.

"How long have you guys been keeping this from us?" Adrian piped in.

"We just found out the other day," Draco explained, "It's pretty new to us too."

"You don't even look like you've gained any weight…" Duncan reached out to put his hand on her stomach, but Hermione quickly pulled herself away.

"I'm sorry, it's just…no one's touched my stomach…before…like that," She became flustered. "We don't have time to talk about this, we are being hunted down right now, we need to make a plan and then we need to leave."

"That's why you were acting so strange the other day…both of you," Layla looked back and forth between Hermione and Draco, "That's why you were so upset and you were so distant. I went with you, you said we were friends!" At this moment, her eyes fell solely on Hermione, "You pretended like we were real friends, do you realize how much that hurts? Do you? No, you don't, because your Hermione Granger, and you get whatever you want whenever you want, and it—it never even mattered, did it? It wasn't like I could ever possibly be part of your life. You were always too good for someone of my kind, weren't you?"

"Layla, it wasn't like that," Hermione shook her head.

"And if Draco wouldn't have just told us now, when would you have come out and told me the truth? When you were delivering the child? When you were sending out invitations to the wedding?" She cried, "I trusted you, Granger, I thought we were friends!"

"We are friends, Layla, I was just going through some things and it's personal, it's a very personal matter…" Hermione began.

"I told you everything!" Layla shouted, "We were becoming close and now you were just going to go off…and, no…how could you?"

"Layla, I was scared and upset, I didn't need to rest of the world knowing until Draco and I figured out exactly what we were doing!" Hermione defended herself.

"It doesn't matter if you were scared or you were hurting! You should have opened up to me; you should have let me know! But you didn't—you kept it from me. Friends don't do that,"

"It's different, Layla…you just…you wouldn't understand." Hermione finally said.

"You're right, I couldn't possibly understand! Who could understand the Great Almighty Granger," Layla started walking away without saying another word.

"Layla," Hermione went to follow after her, but she felt Draco's hand on her wrist.

"Let her go," He ordered. Hermione gave him a reluctant glance, but then understood his hesitant manner. After all, it wasn't just her life at risk anymore; it was also their child's. This meant that there was a lot more precautions that they needed to take and Hermione needed to look at things a bit differently now. It wasn't just herself that she was protecting. "So we'll split up. Adrian, go after Layla and stay with her, got it? Keegan you stay with Duncan, Brendon you stay with Darren. Blaise and Theo stick together. And everyone…just—just be careful."

Draco gave a strong glance around the group. He was never one for getting emotional or becoming too attached to anyone except for Granger. But he had to admit that even though they were only with each other for a short amount of time, he was beginning to truly like some of the Slytherins. It wasn't that he had disliked them before but more so just the fact that he didn't really know them all well enough to be able to deem them good or bad. It made him very hesitant over whether or not to take Granger to the safe house. But when he realized that Snape trusted them all fully, Draco decided to take the risk. He wasn't positive that he would see any of his new friends again. He didn't even know if some of them would join Voldemort's army and turn against them. But he did know that he got to know some pretty amazing people for a while and it would certainly be a waste if they used their talents for the wrong reasons.

"When will we all see each other again?" Blaise asked before the group dispersed.

"I don't know…if we ever really will," Draco answered, "But if it's meant to be, it will happen."

Hermione watched as the boys in front of them began leaving in every which direction. Looking over at Draco, she realized how hard this was for him. She could tell by the look in his eyes that this was killing him, but they both understood that this was what they had to do. When he turned back over to face her, he blinked a few times and then cleared his throat. Taking his hand in hers, he pulled her along a now crowded street.

"Alright, this is the last call for anyone who wants to join!" Luna cried out to an overcrowded table.

"Who all can help?" A young Gryffindor stood up.

"You should really go home when this all happens…" Fred looked down at the brunette.

"I want to fight!" The girl stood up.

"You don't know how to fight," Neville told the girl nicely.

"Then teach me!" She cried out.

"My name is Luna Lovegood," Luna stuck out her hand, "If you are serious about this…maybe I can teach you."

"Th—thank you," She smiled, "My name is Eve,"

As soon as the group left the Great Hall and went into the front corridor of the castle, the twins

"What were you thinking? She's young—she probably doesn't know how to perform even the smallest of spells," George sighed as he walked alongside the group.

"You don't know that, George! But even if she doesn't, I'm going to teach her." Luna flashed a glance at all of the boys who looked very reluctant to agree with her decision.

"What is it about this girl that you like so much?" Neville stopped Luna.

"Her determination." Luna answered, "No one ever gave me a chance when I was growing up. No one thought that I had it in me to be strong, let alone be a talented witch. So it just…seems right that I take on someone who's like me. You'd be surprised, sometimes even the weakest of souls turn out to be very strong in the end."

"Your souls not weak," Fred commented.

"Neither is hers," Luna walked ahead of the group.

"She's…unusual, isn't she?" Neville looked over at the Weasley twins who simply nodded at him.

When they got out to the courtyard, they saw huge crowds of people who were waiting for them. Luna turned back to the boys with a huge smile on her face.

"I'll take this group, Neville you take the one on the far left, George you take the crowd in the corner, and Fred you can take the group next to mine." Luna directed the boys where to go.

Luna worked with her group for about an hour. She had them starting off with simple spells but then worked with them more intensely. Looking over at the other groups, her eyes searched for Eve, but she was nowhere to be found. Giving a slight sigh, Luna turned back to her group and then told them their schedule. She made sure to explain that she wouldn't know when their last meeting would be because she wasn't sure herself when the war would start. But she made sure to let them know that she would train with them as much as they needed and if anyone ever needed one-on-one training she would always be willing to help. When she dismissed her group, she noticed that all of the other groups had already left.

"You're a Weasley, no doubt." Lucius looked down at Ginny.

"Yes," She stood up, looking at him.

"You're not scared?" Lucius became intrigued by how sturdy she seemed in front of him.

"No," Ginny lied as she let out a small breath.

"Well…you should be." Lucius replied as he leaned further onto his cane. "You're going to die."

"I don't care," She shook her head.

"Oh, really?" Lucius brushed her hair from her face, "How…interesting…"

"I'm nothing like you,"

"Clearly," Lucius chuckled. "Why don't we make a little deal?"

"I won't make a deal with the devil," Ginny spat on him.

"You won't even hear me out?" He grinned, "Fine, have it your way."

Lucius brought down his cane on the girl and forced her to the stone ground. When she tried to get back up, he hit her once more, this time he hit her across the head. She gripped her bleeding forehead as she tried escaping him, but her foot was pulled back by the chain and he hit her again. Screaming loudly, she felt a tear coming down her face. Lucius laughed as he bent down at the girl and gripped her hair in his hand. Forcing her to look at him, he shoved her upwards and then back against a wall. She remembered screaming loudly but then everything went black.

Picking up his cane, Lucius made his way up the stairs and back to the landing where he found his wife waiting for him. He would have thought nothing of this, since she constantly lingered around the manor for him normally. But it was the look on her face that caught him off guard. Reaching out towards the woman, he watched her cower away. Moving closer to her, he decided to keep his hands to himself. Obviously, something was wrong.

"Nacrissa?"

"They found some of the Slytherins," She finally said.

"Did they find Draco?" Lucius' lips parted slightly.

"I don't know," She shrugged, "They haven't said. But the snatchers are bringing them here shortly."

"Okay," He now reached his arms around her, "It's going to be okay, Nacrissa."

"Yeah," She pulled away.

"No—wait," He stopped her, "I need to talk to you."

"Lucius, I really don't think this is the appropriate time…" Her eyes remained on the ground.

"Please," He suddenly said.

Lifting her eyes up to her husband, she felt a piece of her heart drop. She had only heard her husband say that word once. It was shortly after Draco was born. Even though it was so many years ago, she could remember it clearly. Her arms were interlocked, cradling her newborn son as her husband had walked into the room. His eyes were almost filling up with tears as saw his son for the first time. Kneeling down beside her, he kissed her on the forehead and then reached his arm around his son. Her eyes met his and that's when he said please for the first time.

"Alright, I'll listen," Nacrissa watched him cautiously.

"I haven't…been the best husband, and I know that. You deserve a lot better than what you have. I'm sorry I got you involved in this, I'm sorry that I got Draco tangled up in this mess…but I…"

"Save it, Lucius," Nacrissa interrupted.

"I thought you were going to hear me out," He commented.

"I'm not going to forgive you for getting my son involved in this. I know we're a family, but you sure as hell haven't acted like a husband to me, let alone a father to your own son. And I've been taking a lot of crap from you, but I can handle it. Draco couldn't handle it, Lucius. I wasn't a good parent either, I made him go through terrible things, I didn't stick up for him when he needed me to, and I wasn't there to give him the motherly affection that he deserved. The older he got, the less I saw him. And now he's gone, and I can't help but to feel like that's my fault," She began with tears in her eyes.

"Nacrissa, you're drawing too much into this. Draco is strong because of what he was put through. He's who he is today because of the way we raised him. He turned out much better than most kids." Lucius tried.

"You really don't get it, Lucius. You can't possibly understand…and it was childish of me to believe that you would." Nacrissa shook her head, "I should get ready. The snatchers will be here any moment and I need to be dressed accordingly."

"Luna," Neville asked the girl across the tables in the Great Hall, "Do you think we could hang out tonight?"

"Yeah, of course," Luna nodded.

"Okay, well how about at eight we can meet up in the Great Hall and then we can decide where we want to go." Neville put his hands in his pockets a bit nervously.

"Sounds great," Luna stood up from her table and then headed out to the girl's dormitory.

"Are you going to ask her?" George nudged him.

"Ask her what?"

"To be your girlfriend," Fred laughed at Neville's nervousness.

"I mean, I was planning on telling her how I felt today. I don't know really how she's going to react or what she's going to say. Honestly, I don't even know if she likes me as more than a good friend." Neville paused for a moment, "But I think I'm going to at least take a chance. Especially with the war coming so quickly and I just…I don't want to leave anything unfinished in case there is a chance that maybe…we could be meant for each other. Does that sound stupid?" Neville looked over at the twins.

"No," They said in unison.

Neville looked down at his feet anxiously when he saw Luna coming down from the girl's corridor. She was standing there, in her normal airy way. Giving her a soft smile, he approached her. The two awkwardly walked out of the room and down the stairs. There was something about the two of them that was truly remarkable. They were both odd balls of their class and yet when they stood by each other they fit in perfectly. Everyone knew that the two belonged together, there was something that just seemed right about it. But both of them were simply too shy and too blind to see it. Luna closely followed Neville out of the castle and out by the lake where he finally stopped.

"Neville, what's going on?" Luna questioned.

"What do you mean?" He turned around, trying to act innocent and unaware.

"You're practically shaking," She laughed, "What's gotten into you?"

"N—nothing," Neville ran his hand through his hair.

"Don't lie to me," She moved closer to him, "I can tell when there's something wrong. So come on, tell me what you're thinking."

"You really want to know?" Neville looked down at her.

"Yes,"

"I don't know how to tell you this," Neville began, "I don't even know where to begin."

"Okay," She nodded, "Well…just start from the beginning."

"Well, it started…probably the first day I met you," He nervously laughed.

"Neville,"

"My feelings have only grown stronger the longer I've known you," Neville admitted with his pale cheeks becoming red.

"Neville, just say it—say whatever it is you need to say."

"I like you…a lot." Neville said quickly.

"What?" Luna's eyes opened wider.

"I lied," Neville shook his head.

"You don't like me then?" Luna slowly questioned, feeling a bit confused.

"I just, I want to know how you feel about me because…this is all just really complicated. I'm really stressed, I know you're stressed and with the war coming…but I want you to know how I feel, even if you don't feel the same way, but I hope you do, I hope I haven't been leading to conclusions…did you not see this coming? I just figured that…" Neville rambled on endlessly until Luna finally stood up on her tip toes and kissed him gently.

When she pulled back, she gave him a soft smile, "I love you, Neville. I've felt like this for as long as I can remember. I just figured that your feelings weren't mutual."

"No, they...they were always mutual..." Neville felt her hands intertwine with hers. He leaned down again, and began kissing her.

"Draco," Hermione put her hand on his arm, "Something's not right…"

"Is it the baby?" Draco put his arms around her.

"N—no, Draco," She shook her head, "It's not the baby, it's just…I don't know, I have a bad feeling."

"Alright, well just…try to relax okay? Why don't you go take a bath?" Draco suggested.

"A bath isn't going to just magically fix any of this," Hermione said in an exhausted tone.

"I'll go down to get us some food for dinner," Draco stood up from the bed and left the small hotel room.

Hermione walked into the bathroom, and carefully undressed in front of the mirror. She looked down at her stomach that was now starting to protrude a little bit. Running some hot water for a bath, she carefully made her way into the tub. Lying her head down against the back of the tub, she let out a small sigh. After a few moments, she heard footsteps outside of the door. Alarmed, she pulled herself up from a relaxed position.

"Draco?" She called out, "Draco, is that you?"

When there was no reply, Hermione breathed uncomfortably. Quickly, she dried herself off and got dressed. Nearing the door, she looked around for her wand, but then she remembered that she had left it out on the bed stand. Locking the door quickly, Hermione looked around for something that she could use as a weapon, but nothing was working. So she carefully waited on the other side of the bathroom, as she heard loud poundings against the door. Placing her hand on her stomach, she began saying a quiet prayer to herself.

"Help!" Hermione screamed as she pounded on the wall behind her. She hoped that someone was in the hotel room next to them and could possibly hear her cries. After a few minutes of screaming, she heard someone finally yell back on the other side.

"Are you okay?"

"Help me! Please, help!" Hermione looked over at the bathroom door to see that the lock on the door was beginning to break. Holding her stomach tightly, she began to get teary eyed.

"Hold on!" The person hollered back.

The next few minutes were blended together and it really didn't make too much sense. Hermione's vision was blurred by both her tears and her uncontrollable shaking. All of her senses were clouding up her mind and making it impossible to think clearly. As the lock eventually broke, she heard it break inward as the door abruptly opened. Hermione was now sitting down on the floor of the bathroom, hunched over, crying. When her eyes met the doorway, she saw three figures. There was a hotel worker, the man from (apparently) next door, and Draco. Draco swarmed into the room and picked her up from the floor.

"Granger, it was room service, that's who was knocking on the door." He told her as he kept his arms around her. She kept her gaze low as she gripped onto Draco tightly. Draco gave a look to the two men standing just a few feet away which indicated a silent thank you.

That night, after the two finished eating, Hermione got into bed. Draco got under the covers and pulled her close to him. It had seemed to be a never ending day. Her eyes were swollen and she felt incredibly exhausted. His breath tingled her skin as he gave her a small kiss goodnight. But she still stayed up for hours, staring at the window at the far side of the room.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I'm not," She whispered.

"You're thinking; you're tense." He told her.

"This is driving me insane…" She answered him.

"What is?"

"All of this…I'm constantly so afraid that at any minute we're going to get taken by snatchers. I'm afraid that I'm going to get killed, I'm literally scared senseless. And I would never be like this, I would never be so afraid and held back. But this baby…it's in me and it's life depends on mine…it's not just about me anymore, it's not just about us, it's about…this baby. It's just so exhausting waiting and hoping that nothing will happen. It's frustrating that I can't fight, that I can't make a stand and help protect my friends. It's just terrifying." She breathed out heavily.

"It's going to be okay," He put his hand over hers, "I won't let anything happen to you or the baby."

"You can't know that for sure," Hermione moved her hand away, "You can't protect us from everything."

"Granger…"

"Just forget it," She cut him off, "I'm going to bed, I'm tired."

But Hermione only slept on and off. Most of the night, she watched the rain patting at the window. This was how she spent most of her nights at the hotels that they stayed at. Every two days or so, they would go somewhere else, a few towns over. So far they hadn't run into any problems. Whenever Hermione did get sleep, she would have constant nightmares. They were always about the war, or about Draco being killed, or losing the baby, even dreams about Layla still not forgiving her. Her mind would never be at ease, not anytime soon anyway.

In the morning, Draco went down to the hotel lobby to get them breakfast. Upon returning, Draco found Hermione sitting in the window sill. For a moment, he remembered the day back at Hogwarts where skipped her classes. She faked sick, just so she could find the courage to try to break up with him. He remembered how he refused to leave until she talked to him rationally. Once she finally opened up to him, they were completely fine. After all, she was just a scared, little girl. Even after these past few months, absolutely nothing had changed...except now she had a baby inside of her body.

"Granger, you need…you need to rest at some point." He brought her food.

"I can't sleep," She replied looking up at him.

"I know," He picked up a small paper cup. "I'll fill this up,"

She watched him walk over to the sink where he began filling it with water. Looking down at the food, she picked off a grape from a stem and ate it slowly. When Draco was sure she wasn't looking, he slipped two pills into it. Watching the pill disintegrate, Draco poured himself a glass of water as well. Walking back over to her, he handed her the cup and then sat down across from her. Though she didn't seem to have much of an appetite, she was rather thirsty. Since her tastebuds had been sort of off lately, she didn't even realize that there was something in her water. Draco wasn't sure if he was happy about this or concerned.

Within a few moments, Hermione was passed out on the bed. Draco covered her up and then slowly tucked her in. Giving her a small kiss on the face, he made his way to the bathroom where he took a quick shower. Shaving his face and then drying his hair in the mirror, Draco continued to get dressed. Making his way out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, he noticed that the bed was undone and Hermione was missing. His eyes darted across the room until he finally found a witch in the corner.

"Mum?" Draco questioned.

"I had to find you," She explained, "I'm sorry, but I had to."

"Where did you take her?" Draco demanded a response.

"Your father and a few snatcher's have her." Nacrissa answered.

"How did you find me?"

"I will always find you, Draco." Nacrissa reached out towards her son.

"You have to take me to her, they can't hurt her!" Draco screamed.

"Draco, it is out of my hands now." Nacrissa told her son.

"You don't understand!" Draco hollered, "Just—take me to her!"

"I do understand, Draco. That's why I think it's best if you and I disappear for a while. We need to lie low, especially when the war comes."

"I'm staying with her!" Draco screamed, "You can't separate us!"

"I'm your mother and I'm doing this to protect you." She carefully said, "I want you to be safe, can't you see that? I want nothing but the absolute best for you."

"If you wanted the best for me, you wouldn't have come searching for me!" Draco reached for his wand.

"Don't be rash, Draco."

"I'm not being rash, I'm just the only one in this family that knows how to be rational!" Draco grabbed his things and then tried heading out of the door, but his mother was quick to stop him.

"Draco, listen to me..." She tried.

"I'm done listening, I'm done playing games, this is over." Draco said under his breath.

"Exactly," Her eyes met his and the two became silent.

"There's something we haven't talked about before." Harry told Ron as they made their way across town in a hurry.

"What's that?" Ron was out of breath.

"If I die…will you tell Ginny…"

"Shut up," Ron shook his head, "Stop talking about dying and about wishes and…just…just stop, okay? That isn't going to happen!"

"You aren't sure of anything,"

"Just stop running, okay?" Ron stopped suddenly. "We have almost all of the horcruxes gone, the only ones that remain are…?"

"I don't know what they are and I don't know where we can find them." Harry sighed.

"Okay, well maybe if we just try to clear your head and then concentrate really hard…" Ron began.

"Just forget it, this isn't working." Harry stopped. "I don't know why I'm trying anymore, it's stupid to think that I can actually beat him, isn't it?"

"Don't say that…"

"Do you think I can win?" Harry looked at his friend sternly with a hint of fear in his eyes.

"I don't think you can lose." Ron said firmly. Harry felt a small smile coming onto his face.

"Put her in the room with Lavender Brown," Lucius handed off Hermione to a snatcher, "I don't want her in the dungeon with Ms. Weasley. However, you can remove Mrs. Brown and bring her down to the entrance. I think her time has come."

"Of course," The snatcher took the sleeping girl in his hands as he made his way into the back of the Manor.

Lavender rose to her feet as she heard someone entering. Her heart began pounding as she saw the snatcher enter. He roughly dropped Hermione to the ground. Waking up, she turned to see Lavender struggling to try to escape the snatcher's grip.

"Hermione!" Lavender cried out, "Hermione, are you okay?"

"I—I'm fine," Hermione tried to make sense of where she was, "Lavender—wait, where are you taking her?"

"Get up," The snatcher began undoing Lavender's chains.

"Hermione, listen to me, I need to ask you something. Wherever you were…was Blaise there? Was he safe?"

"He's safe," Hermione nodded, "He's okay, Lavender! I don't know where he's at right now, we all had to split up, but he was alive…he was well."

"Oh thank Merlin," She was close to weeping. "I was so afraid…"

"Lavender, where are they taking you?" Hermione started to get up to her feet, but the snatcher shoved her back down to the ground.

"Please, don't," Lavender cried as the snatcher carried her out of the room and locked the door.

Hermione went to the door and tried opening it anyway, but it did no use. She slammed against the door and cried for help, but nothing worked. She was stuck inside what seemed to be a home and what even resembled a rich one. So she was betting that she was in the Malfoy Manor. Her mind went to Draco and where he was. Then she thought about Harry and Ron. Were they here too? There was only one way to find out who was there and who wasn't. But the only way to find out was through that door. There must have been something that she was overlooking, some detail that she wasn't noticing. She was going to find her way out of this room, no matter the cost.