CHAPTER 26: HERMIONE CHECKS OFF HER MENTAL NOTE

Blaise groaned as his neck cracked from being in an odd position for so long. He licked his dry lips and looked around, blinking at the darkness around him, not entirely sure where he was.

The last thing he could remember was...

And then it all came rushing back to him, hitting him like a bucket of cold water and he sat up in horror at what he knew.

Everything that was going on, there was so much more to it. That madman with the mask on, not only was Blaise aware of who he was, but it was dawning on him what the terrible plan that required Draco and Hermione, was as well, and if he was right, things were not going to end well for anyone.

To frame Hermione, and get her to go on the run with Draco of all people, gods, this was a sick, twisted idea of a plan, and he found it hard to believe that that man had come up with it all on his own. Who else was involved in all this?

How was he going to tell Hermione and Draco? They had to know!

Blaise took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. There was no point in freaking out right now, it wouldn't help him out of this situation in any way. He winced was his lungs expanded, and the bruises along his sides began to sting. He'd been knocked out soon after the silencing spell had been lifted and waking up in a creepy dark dungeon was not the greatest gift in the world.

He glanced around the dark room, carefully this time, hoping to find something to help him escape, and noticed for the first time, he wasn't alone.

In the dim light of a fading candle in the corner of the room, Blaise spotted two other pairs of eyes watching him carefully, as if afraid he might jump at them or something. It took him a moment to figure out that the first pair of bright blue eyes belonged to Ronald Weasley, the dead Ronald Weasley, who apparently wasn't dead.

The second pair of eyes were blue and cold, watching him with great judgement and irritation, and belonged to none other than Pansy Parkinson, who also was not dead.

Sufficient to say Blaise Zabini was pretty sure that he was being haunted by ghosts until he noticed the shackles binding them to the wall and he forced his voice to work.

"You guys...aren't dead!?" his dry throat made him sound like a dry old hag, and he hated it. Blaise Zabini was always supposed to sound sexy, that stupid madman had ruined his voice too!

Pansy, ever the Slytherin, rolled her eyes, wondering why of all the people to end up in a dungeon with, presumed dead, it had to be the red-headed freak and the biggest idiot in Slytherin next to Goyle. Neither of them were any good at anything, what she was supposed to do with them?

Ron glared at the Italian boy, struggling against the ropes that had been holding him hostage, "no, idiot, obviously we aren't dead, or we wouldn't be here talking to you, obviously! We're not dead, and Hermione hasn't killed anyone and Malfoy better not get his grubby paws on her!"

Pansy just bit her lips and sighed heavily, her eyes wondering around the dungeon she'd been in for almost two years of her life. The two of them sounded like they were in hell, but neither of them had even been here for a week. Stupid idiots.

Blaise just looked between the two, not knowing how to react. "But...but if you two aren't dead, what about the bodies that were found? I saw the reports and the articles about it in the newspaper, they found both your bodies!" Blaise argued, trying to convince himself that maybe they were ghosts.

It was an easier theory to believe than that they were simply not dead. H sat up in a more comfortable position; something that was hard to do with both arms tied being his back, well at least he wasn't shackled to the wall.

Pansy finally spoke, knowing that if Ron started speaking, he would never shut up, and she was sick and tired of his voice. "It's not our bodies. It's a spell that was apparently on a list of spells that Hermione invented that was stolen years ago. Something that charms dolls to look and be identified as out bodies until it's been buried. Whoever this man is that took us all, he has that list, and he's used it on Weasel and me. I'm not so sure about you, though. Why the hell are you here?" Pansy asked, scowling at the man.

Blaise winced at her hard glare, reminding himself of the fact that she was kind of scary, though he didn't fail to notice the fact that Pansy had just referred to Hermione as Hermione, something that had never happened before. Had time in a dungeon, assumed to be dead, changed her, then? Would she be open to Hermione and Draco being together, then?

But more importantly, why was he here? The man who'd done this to him, that psychopathic idiot, had mentioned something about needing him to lead Hermione and Draco to Hogwarts, but then, if she already knew to come to Hogwarts, why hadn't he been obliviated and let go?

Was he going to be sacrificed or something?

Blaise wriggled his hands trying to loosen the roped that held them together, glad that there weren't attached to the wall, further restricting the movement. "First things first," he said as his hands came free of the ropes. He thanked his lucky stars that all his struggling had paid off somehow and that the rope wasn't as tight as he'd presumed it to be, "let's get ourselves out of here. And then we're going to give that son of a hippogriff what he deserves and get your best friend and my best friend un-wanted from the law, Weasley."

Blaise began to untie the bonds around his feet.

And for the first time in ages since being tied up together and fed measly pieces of bread and pumpkin juice; Ron and Pansy glanced at each other and smiled.

.*.

The two of them apparated into the Shrieking Shack, and immediately, Draco had his wand out, and Hermione held firmly onto hers, both of them scanning the area for the presence of anyone else.

The house was quiet, not surprising since the only person who'd normally used it, had died years ago. Hermione felt her heart dampen at the thought of Lupin and Tonks, gods, she missed them all so much. Life hadn't been the same without the people who'd died in the war, and now, she'd lost so many more too.

Sighing heavily, she placed wards around the perimeter and Draco secured the room they were in, making sure that no one would notice that the usually empty house was now occupied, and by the two most wanted people currently too.

After making sure that everything was in order, Hermione looked out of the window, at her old school.

After the war with Voldemort, Hogwarts hadn't been the same. They'd rebuilt it, sure, brick by brick, but He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had taken away the cosy feelings that had always belonged there.

From where she stood, Hermione watched as tiny dots in the sky flew in on broomsticks, into the school and disappeared behind the tall trees. The Ministry officials were here, along with the Aurors.

Everything was happening as she knew it would. The very fact that she was familiar with how the ministry and the Auror handled situations like this gave her the upper hand, and she thanked her lucky stars that they hadn't changed anything.

She glanced at Draco slyly, her hear racing in her chest at the fact that that stupid love potion had worked after all, and that she really had found her true love. It was kind of surreal still, but now wasn't the time for those thoughts. Such things would end up getting her and Draco killed, she had to be in serious mode now.

She took in a deep breath and turned to face Draco, her face serious and business like. "The Aurors and the Ministry officials are right on time. And, if my calculations are correct, then the press should be arriving..." she trailed off as sounds of buzzing and apparating filled the silent air.

Draco walked to the window and saw witches and wizards, cameras and all, making their way to Hogwarts, excitement evident on their faces as they discussed what they would call the big news about Hermione Granger's capture.

"And anytime now the Azkaban officials should be arriving with controlled Dementor to suck out my soul," as soon as the words left her lips, the room turned chilly and Draco felt like any happiness he'd ever felt was being sucked away from within him. Hermione grasped his hand and slouched her shoulders, "I hate those things." She whispered, as three men, wearing black on black arrived, trailing behind them like a huge shadow was a Dementor.

They were headed into the Dark Forest, intending to make their way through it and out into Hogwarts so that the Dementor wouldn't start trailing after other people.

Draco wondered how it was possible for her to know all of this in such great detail, but then chalked it up to her being smart. "Can't the Dementor sense us? They're good at that, aren't they?" he shuddered at the thought of being spotted by a Dementor.

Dying a slow and painful death by loss of soul, was not how he'd imagined he'd grace heaven.

Hermione grinned at him easily, "no, I've shielded this house from their touch, they can't even see this building is here at all," she said, watching as the soul-sucker floated by quietly and the ice like crystals that had been forming in the house disappear.

She glanced out of the window as the few stranglers walked to Hogwarts, and straightened her shoulders, readying herself for what was to come.

"And now we go in," she stated calmly, and then looking at him fondly, she smiled, "last chance Draco, you can stay here and be safe, or you can come with me and possibly end up buried six-foot underground." She raised one eyebrow expertly and gave him a sceptical look.

"Granger, when you put it like that, what sort of an idiot would want to stay here? Let's get buried together, shall we?" He cocked an eyebrow of his own, and offered a hand, she took it.

Facing each other, they began the last part of their plan.

.*.

Harry looked around the deserted hallways and sighed sadly at all the memories that each nook and cranny brought. He missed Hogwarts, he missed his friends and the adventures he'd had here. He missed the days when everything made sense and the world only had to worry about the Death Eater or Voldemort, not Hermione Granger on the loose.

Or whatever else was going on. He hadn't accepted Ginny's words yet, but it had been constantly nagging him for ages now, and things were getting too confusing to handle alone. He wished Ron was here with him, helping him out.

The school was empty, even McGonagall had headed home for a change, and none of the students had stayed back either, so the hallways looked haunted and the castle appeared far scarier than it was.

"Please do not wonder the hallways alone. It isn't safe." A voice said from behind him. Harry turned around and came face to face with Professor Slughorn.

Harry smiled politely, his mind whirling at the fact that a teacher was present, even though he'd asked Headmistress McGonagall only minutes ago who was here. She hadn't mentioned Professor Slughorn being here at all.

"Hello Professor, what are you doing here?" he asked carefully, making sure that his wand was easily reachable.

Slughorn didn't smile back, only stating, like a monotone robot, "please do not wonder the hallways alone. It isn't safe." And then, swifter than the old man could've really managed it, Slughorn pulled out his wand and yelled, "Stupefy!"

Harry ducked under the spell and whilst the teacher was distracted, cast a full body binding hex, and bit his lip in thought, a trait he'd picked up from Hermione, but never realised.

"Please do not wonder the hallways alone. It isn't safe." Slughorn repeated, face down on the floor, not moving a muscle. He didn't struggle or do anything anyone normal would have done, which made Harry even more wary of his surroundings.

Harry observed Slughorn's eyes, and rubbed his forehead; as he suspected, they were glazed over like he was under a spell, probably the Imperio.

This was getting ridiculous. Why would Hermione have Slughorn under the Imperio? What was the purpose of having him here at all, other than to serve as a distraction? But nothing had happened yet, who was she trying to distract?

"Please do not wonder the hallways alone. It isn't safe."

Okay, that was getting kind of creepy now. The only way to figure this out was to question his old Potions Master, and figure this out.

Was Hermione perhaps...

Looking down at the body-bound Professor, Harry took out a vile of clear liquid, a vial of the truth serum he always had with him and forcefully opened the teacher's mouth and poured in three drops, and made the professor swallow it.

It was about time he got some answers

.*.

Disguises were hard things to master, Draco discovered as he attempted to change his appearance, and failed once again.

And Hermione's family ring wasn't helping either. He couldn't really blame Hermione for slipping it on him, it was half his fault anyway, but it was a major pain in the neck...literally.

Every time he tried to change something about himself, the ring would flash and then he would feel this stinging pain in his neck for two or three seconds and then it would disappear along with his altered appearance.

Hermione had, however managed to change her appearance easily. Her hair was now a bright red, and her eyes green. Her skin was tanned beautifully. She was wearing custom Auror uniform, only it wasn't black, it was dark blue.

And tight.

Draco swallowed painfully and tried to keep his mind on the task, but somehow found it too hard. She looked like a bloody warrior, beautiful, determined and ready for battle and he hadn't even managed to change his hair.

He watched as she reached into her beaded bag and brought out the boots that she'd gotten at Kurt's house and slipped them on, at his enquiry, she simply smiled, "they're my lucky boots." She'd whispered, winking at him.

Forever and ever. Was she really going to be with him forever and ever?

Not with the way he was failing to do even the most basic of things, she wasn't.

Hermione glanced over at Draco and almost burst into laughter. His attempt at changing his hair colour hadn't gone well, and it resembled a nest of rainbow colours at the moment, and with his pale complexion, he looked like a wannabe-clown. His eyes were still silver-grey, and everything else about him was the same, she watched as his multi-coloured hair went back to blond and the ring flashed, he winced.

He was so adorable, she memorised every expression he made, finding comfort in the fact that he was there with her. Even though, deep in her mind, she was aware that they were both walking into a danger zone, and that maybe, neither of them would make it out alive, but just the fact that he was there was a comfort.

She cast a spell silently at the ring on his finger, not liking the fact that it caused him pain.

It was something she'd though of whilst apparating to the shack. The ring worked by cancelling any spells that affected the way the wearer of the ring appeared physically. It was to help stop any confusion or betrayal in the family the ring belonged to.

It was supposed to help her keep her lover as her own, and not let anything interfere, especially alternations. So she blocked the signals being sent to the ring, coating it with a spell that blocked it from understanding that she'd changed her appearance.

It worked.

She watched as Draco changed his hair and eyes to match hers, smiling brightly when his spells finally worked. He really was adorable

He then attempted to change his clothes, but his spell didn't work out, and Hermione found herself squealing and covering her eyes as his clothes disappeared into thin air.

Draco squealed too, but he denied it later.

Hermione turned her back to him and tried not to think too hard about anything in particular until Draco told her he was sensible. And upon turning around to face him, she found out that he looked good, almost beautiful, not that she would ever call him that to his face, but the dark blue uniform suited him well. "You should have been an Auror, Draco," she muttered.

He just grinned.

.*.

This was obviously some sort of terrible, horrible sick joke. A really bad, stupid horrendous joke played on him to make him feel even worse than he'd ever felt in his entire life.

Harry didn't know what to do. The truth potion had worked like a... well a truth potion, and he'd gotten almost all the information that he needed to get out of Professor Slughorn. The old man had been under the Imperio alright, but as to who had cast it, he didn't know.

But what had been made perfectly clear was the fact that it wasn't Hermione nor Malfoy who'd done this. Of the plan underway that the professor did know, both Hermione and Malfoy had roles that only made them the victims, not the villains.

This was not supposed to happen, the case was supposed to end here, the good guys win, the bad guys get caught, and they all lived happily ever after. That's what he wanted, but no, of course not.

Things had to get even more complicated, Merlin probably wasn't satisfied with the fact that Harry had been chasing his best friend for years now; things had to get more difficult. Now he didn't know what to do.

He made his way down the unfamiliar corridor to the Slytherin dungeons, the Professor had confessed that there were people in a dungeon there, and Harry wanted to get them out as quickly as possible, to get the innocent people out before things got even more hectic.

His mind flashed to the Professor he'd left tied up in a cupboard, and guilt ran through him. Harry shook his head and focused on the current task, rescue whoever was down there and get them to safety, and then end this stupid cat and mouse game for good.

This was going to end today, no matter what.

.*.

Blaise looked around the room wearily as if expecting something to jump out at him, and then he turned to face the two people behind him. "I can't figure out where the exit is, it's too dark and I don't exactly have a match or a wand."

Ron sighed in irritation, were all Slytherins this stupid? "Of course you don't have a match or a wand. You think someone who kidnapped you would give you the essential items to help you get out?

"What are we going to do then? We're stuck here for good, right? We're probably going to starve to death or something." Blaise cried dramatically, putting a hand to his heart like he was about to die right then.

Pansy felt like knocking their heads together, gods they were so stupid. Of all the idiotic people to be stuck in a dungeon with, why did it have to be Weasel and the weasel equivalent of Slytherin, Blaise? Was this punishment for all the stupid things she'd done in her life? if so, she was glad to say that she'd learnt her lesson well.

"Seriously Weasley, you hung out with Hermione Granger, didn't she teach you anything? And Blaise, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one, handling all the things in Draco's company? Rule number one in the Girl's Book to Handling Situations. 'When stuck with a bunch of complete buffoons, do all you can and scream for help!'" she quoted breezily.

Ron and Blaise gawked at her like she was crazy.

Pansy snorted at their expressions, flicking her hair over her shoulders, thankful that at least Blaise had managed to get rid of the cuffs that had been around her wrist and ankles for ages now. "What? Do you have a batter plan? I'm twenty-six years old, I'm not going to die in a stupid room with a Gryffindork and an idiot! I haven't lived my life yet!"

With that, she stood up, and taking in a deep breath, yelled out, "HELP, I'M STUCK IN HERE WEIRDOS! HELP ME!"

A few minutes later, ignoring the jab at their stupidity, and considering their options, the two boys joined in.

.*.

Rita Skeeter preened herself in her compact mirror. 'I look good,' she thought to herself as she angled her face to the light to get a good look at her face. Her eyes were done up in bright yellow and on her face was an unhealthy tan, though she thought she looked beautiful.

Once she got the scoop on catching that crazy witch Hermione Granger, she would be promoted to head writer at the Prophet, and with a little coy manoeuvring, she could even be there for Draco to lean on after it was all over.

She could make him look innocent, a victim, surely he would fall for her then...and then all his money would be hers too!

She cackled happily and attacked her face with more make-up supplies. Draco Malfoy was a boy with far too much money... she could do so much with even a little bit of it. All the things she could buy...the people she would be able to control...the possibilities were endless!

She was so immersed in staring at her powdered face; she didn't notice a shadow slinking towards her slowly. A few seconds of applying heavy coats of make-up later, she looked like 'Barbie as Journalist'...except from hell.

Seemingly satisfied with her face, she closed her mirror, put away her supplies and turned to leave her tent when a fist connected squarely with her nose, breaking the soft bones and spraying blood all over her ridiculously bright orange clothing.

She promptly fainted in shock and Hermione kissed her knuckles for doing a good job, glaring down at the woman lying on the floor with a stupid smile on her face.

Gods, how was Rita even alive? She was like a thousand years old, and Hermione hadn't forgotten the weird things that the older woman had said about Draco back at the bar either. Stupid Rita.

"Come on Granger, we'll get her fired and locked up later," Draco muttered, tugging her away before she could do something else to the lady, and avoiding her fists.

Merlin, that girl could do some serious physical damage.

Nevertheless, they both made sure to step on Rita's body as they made their way to Hogwarts.

.*.

Hermione glanced over her shoulder to make sure Draco was following her. He was. Following her exact movements perfectly, crouching low, slinking past quietly, the feeling of pride welled inside her.

Forever and ever. He would really be hers when this was all over.

They made their way to Hagrid's Hut at the back of the school, making sure no one saw them. Upon arrival, the Hut seemed deserted, just as Hermione had hoped, knowing Hagrid, he would have gone off to find a Centaur or unicorn to feed.

Draco looked distrusting around; making sure nothing was touched by him or her, tugging her away from pots and pans that looked suspicious. He certainly didn't want anything hurting them before they sorted this mess out and they got m.... he trailed off that thought, no, better not to get ahead of himself.

The hut was as usual, in complete disarray. There were boiling pots and Knick knacks everywhere. Hermione walked over to the window that faced Hogwarts and sighed. This was it, right? Soon this would be over and she could go around without being scared of being caught. She would finally be free from all of it, and be able to do anything she pleased.

Like stay with Draco.

Poor Ron and Susan and Dennis, she missed them the most, but it was hard to forget that whoever was doing all this had even managed to get to Kingsley and Dean too, and Pansy as well. Even though she hadn't gotten along well with the girl, death wasn't something Hermione had ever wished on anyone but Voldemort.

Hogwarts looked like it always did. Regal and majestic, a wonderful sight, she'd missed school, and looking at it now, she realised just how much this school used to mean to her, then and now. She turned to find Draco looking at her oddly. "What is it?" she asked, running a hand through her hair in a nervous flitter.

He ran his hand through his hair, a habit he'd picked up from being around Harry at school, the same way Harry had picked up Draco's habit of scowling at anyone he couldn't be bothered to deal with.

They'd influenced each other so much without even realising it themselves.

He stared out of the window of the castle, the hill was deserted, exactly why she'd chosen it of course, here, they wouldn't have to stun someone for spotting them before entering the castle.

"Draco, please, you're worrying me. What's wrong?" she whispered, stepping closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, looking up into his eyes.

"Promise me, Granger, promise me forever and ever." He whispered back.

She looked taken aback by his sudden words, but then smiled, leaning into to drop a quick kiss onto his lips. "You are by far the craziest, confusing, annoying, infuriating and the most amazing man I've ever met. I promise you forever and ever...we're practically engaged anyway." She paused to twirl the ring around her ring finger absentmindedly.

"And that's okay with you?" he enquired carefully.

Hermione smiled, "yes, I can't imagine life without you in it now, Draco. Even when I think of tomorrow, you're there, right next to me, complaining about waking up too early or running downstairs in your boxers because you're worried about my mental incapability."

She hesitated for a moment before looking him dead in the eyes, as honest as she could be, "I think that I might be-" she never got to finish that sentence, because it was right then the Astronomy Tower of Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry blew apart; for the second time, in that decade.