Demons, Death Eaters and Malfoys

Chapter VII

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God"

Matthew 5:9

'The demon let out a frightening roar...it came straight for me...I screamed...it hit me over the head...then everything went black...I woke up in this place...oh, God, where am I?'

Hermione awoke in a daze, to find herself in a dark oddly shaped cave-like room, with a low stone ceiling, cold grey stone walls and a dirt floor with spatters of a substance that looked strangely like blood at random intervals. The room itself didn't contain much - just a small oil lamp for its lone source of light; a bucket that stood alone in the corner, a bed of rough sharp straw, on which Hermione was laying, and a thin dirty olive-green sheet which she supposed was a lame attempt to keep her warm in the cold of the room. She shivered and her sides ached with every breath she took.

'Where am I?' she thought nervously. Then she had an even more frightening thought: 'Where's the demon?'

She looked around nervously, anticipating the arrival of the demon. She shifted her weight, settling herself on her other leg and cried out in pain. She looked down to see her black uniform robes all torn, nothing more than a mere rag covered in blood. Her lower thigh had a long deep gash down the side of it and was dripping blood everywhere. Immediately Hermione felt dizzy.

"Oh my," she muttered faintly, swaying from side to side. She looked up and uttered a soft scream. The demon had appeared beside her, holding what looked like a long, curved, bronze dagger. She moaned and tried to flatten herself into the corner as much as possible.

"Please don't hurt me..." she whimpered. Instinctively she felt in what was left of her robes pocket to grab her wand and panicked when she realized that it wasn't there. The demon growled.

"You are the friend of the Death Eater," she heard a voice rasp, as if from invisible speakers around the room. She gasped and looked around.

'What the?' her thoughts cried. The demon slashed the dagger through the air, and a large gash appeared along the side of her arm, tearing her robes even more. Hermione cried out in pain.

"YOU!" boomed the voice. "You are a friend of the Death Eater, are you not?"

Hermione was terrified. A tear ran down her bloody and dirty face, leaving a visible streak.

"I don't know any Death Eater!" she cried. "I won't have anything to do with them! Please, let me go! I can't help you!"

The demon broke out into an ugly grin. He cut the air again, and another ugly slash appeared, this time on the inside of her left thigh. She cried out again, and lay there sobbing while the demon tore at her, over and over. He stopped, finally, and she gasped with relief.

"You can help us more than you think," rasped the voice. "He may not be a Death Eater himself, but he is a close blood relative of one...THINK, GIRL!" Hermione racked her brain. It clicked, and a horrified expression implanted itself onto her face.

"Malfoy!" she cried.

§§§

Earlier on that Evening...

Draco sprinted to the end of the hall, stopping only when Hermione and the demon had disappeared. He let out a frustrated yell and slammed his fist against the wall. Harry and Ron caught upth him, skidding to a stop just short of thumping into Draco.

"What was that all about?" yelled Harry, poking an accusing finger into Draco's chest. Ron narrowed his eyes and stood back. He knew exactly what was going on, and had no intention of stopping Harry from blowing up at Malfoy.

"None of your business!" shot Draco. "Do I need your permission to talk to her?"

"Yeah, if all you're going to do is call her a Filthy Little Mudblood!"

Draco was seething. He narrowed his eyes.

"Who says I was calling her a filthy little Mudblood?"

"You didn't seem so quick to deny it before!"

"Yeah, well, I didn't!"

"You didn't deny it?"

"I didn't say it, you idiot!" Draco turned and started to walk away.

"Yeah, well-" Draco stopped and spun around, this time poking a finger into Harry's chest.

"Look, it's none of your business, get it, Potter?" he said through clenched teeth. "Hermione's and my business is our own!"

"Not when you're fucking around with her!" Ron burst out. Shocked, both Harry and Draco whirled around to face Ron, who was now standing, full of fury, with his fists clenched and his ears bright red. "You're using her for, what was it? Oh yeah; a bit of fun!" Draco went white and Harry's jaw dropped. Harry turned to face Draco, his face now bright red.

"You- you- you and Hermione?" Harry spluttered. Draco looked away. Ron strode up to Draco, stopped just short of him, and looked him right in the eye.

"You used her and she was in love with you," growled Ron angrily. "You broke her heart." Draco looked down guiltily.

"You did what?" cried Harry. "You foul, you- you-"

"Look, I wasn't using her, okay!" cried Draco.

"Yeah? Well, then, what do you call it, Malfoy?" Ron shot back. Draco was at a loss. It was either keep his mouth shut, and get beaten to a pulp because he was outnumbered, or ... admit that he was in love with her. He was a Malfoy, for God's sake! What the hell was he supposed to do? As he opened his mouth to speak-

"Potter! Weasley! Malfoy! What on earth are you doing out here? After I have told the three of you repeatedly to stay in the Great Hall!" cried McGonagall, coming down the hall. "Fifty points from each of you!"

"Hermione was taken by the demon, Professor!" cried Harry. McGonagall paled.

"She- she what?"

"Hermione and I were- er- talking, when these two joined us outside of the classroom and the demon came, got really angry, knocked her out and disappeared!" said Draco.

"Oh, Goodness!" cried McGonagall. Then she remembered what Professor Snape had said about Draco...

"Mr. Malfoy!" McGonagall said in a rush. "When the demon took Miss Granger- did it say anything to you?"

Draco looked at her, taken aback, wondering what this was about.

"No-o...it only-wait! Yes! Not just now, but before..." Draco trailed off, frowning. "Only- it was in another language. I couldn't understand it."

McGonagall frowned for a moment, contemplating a thought.

"Carrameenta el toostia?" suggested McGonagall.

Draco's eyes widened. "How did-"

McGonagall nodded gravely. "Come with me, Mr. Malfoy," she said. "Potter and Weasley, too. Mr. Malfoy- Hermione Granger's life depends on you!"

§§§

Hermione stumbled as she stepped blindly down the path. The black cloth bag over her head was making her dizzy, and her whole body ached more than it ever had before.

"Where are we going?" she asked. There was no answer: only the steady thumping of demons' feet in front of her and behind her.

'I might as well be talking to a brick wall,' she thought grimly. She collided with the demon in front and fell back onto the floor.

"What th-" The heavy black bag was ripped off of her head and she found herself facing what must have been the head demon.

"You are a friend of the Death Eater Malfoy, are you not?" came the demanding voice. Hermione stubbornly stood her ground, her arms folded.

"I don't know any Death Eater by the name of Malfoy!" she retorted. The head demon grabbed the bronze dagger from the hand of the other demon and cut the air with it. A long slash appeared on the side of Hermione's face, but she barely flinched. Tears streamed down her face, streaking the dirt and smearing the blood.

"Now," the voice continued, an evil smile spreading across his face. "You are a friend of the Death Eater Malfoy, are you not?" Hermione stood her ground. This was where her Hufflepuffian qualities came in; she was so incredibly loyal that she would never in her life betray anyone, which was why it was so hard for her when she, herself, was betrayed.

"No, I am not," she said firmly. Her mind raced, trying to find an escape, any escape...the demon turned, and as he headed out the door, the voice cried out "Kill her!"

"Wait!" she cried. A sly grin came over her usually perfect face as an answer came to mind. "I know a Malfoy...but he is not a Death Eater. However..." The demon turned around, suddenly interested.

"Yes?"

Hermione smiled innocently.

"I might know of someone who is a Death Eater...and by the name of Malfoy...though, the Malfoy that you are specifying is not a Death Eater..." she trailed off. The demon re-entered the room, and with a swift wave of his hand Hermione's bindings fell off.

"Lead us to him," the voice commanded.

§§§

Draco sat there, in Professor Snape's office, trying to comprehend the information that he was just given. Snape, McGonagall, Dumbledore, Harry and Ron sat there, staring at him, anticipating his reaction.

"Soooo...you're telling me that only a Death Eater - or a relative of one - can kill these- these- things?" McGonagall nodded.

"And now t it has taken Hermione..." McGonagall looked fearfully at Dumbledore, who was gazing out of his window.

"And you want me to take care of them," he said slowly. McGonagall nodded.

"And what makes you think that I am a relative of a Death Eater?" McGonagall gave him a Look. Snape snapped around and was about to say something when Ron interrupted.

"Everybody knows that your dad is a Death Eater!" he blurted out angrily. Draco snapped around, throwing Ron a look of pure hatred. He opened his mouth to retaliate but McGonagall intervened.

"Yes, *ahem* well, it is irrelevant at this point in time just which of Mr. Malfoy's relatives are Death Eaters...it only matters that he is related to one...you will help us, won't you, Draco?"

Draco spun back around, surprised.

"Of course I will! I-" he spotted Professor Snape's look and caught himself before he dug himself in too deep. "Erm, I mean, yeah, if I have to."

Sensing Professor Snape's eyes still on him he turned, ignoring the suspicious and questioning looks. He took a deep breath.

"What do you want me to do?"

§§§

"Lead you to him?" squeaked Hermione. "Hang on...I just said that I knew of one- not that I would take you to them!"

The demon turned and with an angry cry, slashed the bronze dagger through the air, slicing Hermione's left cheek, jaw and neck in a thin shallow strip. She samed out in pain, falling to the floor. The dagger sliced through the air, over and over, hacking at Hermione again and again...her legs, her arms, her stomach, her back...by the time the demon had finished his wild slashing rampage Hermione could barely move. Her long shapely legs were torn and covered in blood, her arms and stomach were no different and her back was ripped raw of its skin. She winced in pain at every attempted movement - the cold infectious air of these dungeon-like rooms not doing her much good.

She lay there for a few moments, gasping for breath, then the two demons flanking her grabbed her by the arms and dragged her, sobbing, unable to take anymore, back to the pathetic excuse for a cell that they had previously held her in.

They threw her to the flat bed of straw in the corner and slammed the door. Once she heard their footsteps fade down the hall, Hermione finally allowed herself to burst into tears.

§§§

Draco strode down the dark narrow corridor, keeping watch for any demons that might be near.

'I can't believe I'm doing this,' thought Draco, somewhat nervously. 'I can't believe that this is even happening!

"Lumos," he muttered. The dim light, illuminating not even twenty feet in front of him, shone weakly apathetically in the dark damp corridor, and reminded him of just how foolish he was to get involved in this in the first place.

'I just hope that she's okay...' he thought grimly, as he hurried down the corridor, speedily walking to God-knows-where. The hall didn't seem to end, or even break, and he was growing more anxious by the second.

And then there was a sound. He stopped.

A muffled sound, coming from the other side of the wall, and it was- was it...was it crying? His heart leapt. Was it her?

"Hermione!" he yelled. The crying stopped. Then-

"Malfoy!"

§§§

Hermione scrambled to the corner of the room, afraid that it was one of the demons approaching, until she heard-

"Hermione!"

Her hopes soared.

"Malfoy!" she yelled back. "Help! Please!" Hermione coughed, unable to move any more. From the other side, Draco paced back and forth, trying to find some way in. He paced and paced...

"Ma...Mal...Draco..." Hermione gasped. "I...I..."

"Hold on!" he cried. He grimaced as he thought of a particular spell. It would be difficult...and they both might get hurt...

"Hermione!" he yelled. "Get as far away from this wall as you can!" Hermione coughed and nodded. She pushed herself further into the corner and braced herself.

"REDUCTO!" screamed Draco. There was a blinding light and, all of a sudden, the wall exploded. Shards and chunks of stone and wood flew everywhere, splintering Hermione and attacking Draco. As soon as the dust died down, he rushed into the cell where she lay, bleeding.

"Hermione!" he cried. He gazed at her, more horrified by the second as he realized what they had done to her. Her robes were tattered, no more than a rough scrap of black material, her uniform slashed and torn.

Her legs, her arms, her stomach, everywhere, was cut and torn and slashed and covered with blood and dirt...and her face, her once beautiful face, was also slashed and covered in dirt and blood and streaked makeup. His heart surged with rage and he felt pure hatred towards the demons for doing this to her. He looked into her pained eyes as she struggled to stand and his heart tore when she fell back down and collapsed into tears. He rushed to help her struggle back up, but she pushed him away.

"I can do this," she said stubbornly through her tears, gritting her teeth. She finally stood, and was ready to take a step when again, her legs collapsed on her. Draco caught her just before she hit the floor. Their eyes met, and all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and capture all her pain so that she didn't have to feel it. "Or not," she said with a weak smile. He smiled warmly back at her, and started to help her across the ruin of the cell when the angry cry of the demons reminded them that danger was not far off. He looked around, anxious and worried, and began to half drag, half walk Hermione down the dark, dank corridor.

"Dr- Draco- c-can't keep- g-g-gotta - gotta stop-" Hermione wheezed. "T-take a- a breath-" There was another roar, and Draco looked around wildly. Hermione moaned.

"They're getting closer," he muttered subconsciously.

"Not again!" she whimpered. Draco held her tight, and then leaned her up against the wall.

"Stay there," he commanded. She nodded and bit her lip as he drew out his wand as well as a long, golden dagger. She shrank into the wall and Draco made his way down the hall, leaving her behind in the dark to pray.

§§§

Draco walked briskly down the corridor for less than five minutes before he came to a solid stone wall.

"Well, if it worked before, it'll work now- REDUCTO!" he roared. The wall exploded before him and into a large chamber-like room, where five demons sat, stunned. Draco slowly stepped forward, his rage flowing hard and rough, the shards of wall crunching noisily under his feet. He muttered the first spell that came to mind and immediately a fiery red light erupted from the end of his wand, filling the room and paralyzing the demons. They screamed in fury, and Draco quickly cried another spell- and this time, from his wand emerged neon-blue sparks which; when directed at the demons, set them alight. Draco knew that their howls of pain would haunt him for a long time. He drew the dagger from his robes, and approached the nearest demon.

"This is for taking her away from me," he growled, and stabbed the demon between the eyes. The demon let out a final howl, and dissolved into a pile of black ash. Draco strode furiously over to the second demon.

"This is for scaring her," he muttered through clenched teeth, before stabbing the demon between the eyes. The demon screamed, and collapsed into a pile of ash. He moved over to the next one.

"This is for trying to make her do something that she didn't want to do," he growled into the ear of the next enflamed demon. It whimpered, and upon being stabbed, was no more. He whirled around to face the fourth one.

"This is for hurting her!" he screamed, before quietly stabbing it between the eyes. Another howl, another pile of ash. He turned to face the fifth one, the leader. He slowly strode over, allowing the flames to die away. The demon lay there, no longer alight, no longer paralyzed, but unable to move, just the same. Draco stepped up close to the slumped demon, and before stabbing the last and final one, in an enormous fit of fury, he whispered in its ear;

"And this is for taking away my sister."

§§§

Af one last and final piercing scream, Draco emerged from the thick cloud of dust and ash, looking exhausted. He helped Hermione up and pulled her arm around his shoulder.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go."

"Draco, wait!" said Hermione. "Just a-"

"You called me Draco!" he exclaimed. "You- you never do! You always just call me Malfoy!" Hermione blushed.

"Yeah, well," she mumbled. "I, er-"

"I love you," said Draco softly, as he pulled her into a long and passionate kiss.

§§§