The inevitably intense showdown between Draco and his father ensues. Lucius is a word that I cannot say on a family-friendly website.

I'd REALLY like your opinion on this chapter- pretty please, peeps?



Chapter 28: The Final Betrayal


For the rest of the afternoon and evening, all his thoughts were of Hermione. What’s happening to her? Did they kill her because they saw us together? Please Hermione, stay strong. I’m not going to leave you there, I promise. Just hold on for me! His mind was in overdrive, rehearsing in his mind the plans to help her escape and then keep her safe. Before she can do anything, though, she needs to be stronger. Otherwise, she’ll never make it.

Draco waited as planned until everyone had gone to sleep and then quietly snuck out of his room. He crept down the hall, stepping nimbly over all the floorboards that creaked (those numerous episodes of sneaking out over the years had taught him well). Slowly, noiselessly, he opened the door to his parent’s bedroom.

He froze for a moment when he saw that only his mother was in the bed. Oh hell, where is he? If he comes out of the bathroom right now I’m a dead man. He waited, listening intently for any movement. When he was satisfied he was in the clear, he moved stealthily toward his mother’s side of the bed. He gazed at her as she slept and felt his heart break. This might be the last time he ever saw her, if things went badly. “I love you, Mum,” he whispered with a shaky breath. Planting the softest of kisses on her head, he silently wiped the tears from his eyes and took her wand from the nightstand beside the bed. Taking one last look at her, he stole silently out of the room.

He held his mother’s wand tightly in his hand and cautiously made his way down to the first floor. He kept a close eye out for his father. He headed first to his family’s extensive potions cabinet. He whispered Lumos Minimus, allowing himself just enough light to read the labels on the potion bottles. He rummaged through the cabinet as quietly as he could and quickly pocketed blood-replenishing, pepper-up, and pain-relieving potions. He also grabbed the Dittany and some Skele-Gro just in case. He whispered for Mimsy and she appeared. He ordered her to quietly bring him some chicken soup, bread, water and orange juice.

He picked up the tray of food and met Severus in the dining hall. The man nodded for him to proceed, only whispering , “Don’t take long.” Draco descended the stairs to the dungeons. His heart was racing as he neared the interrogation room, not knowing in what state he’d find Hermione. He prayed that he wasn’t too late, that she was still alive. He suddenly halted in his tracks when he heard his father’s voice.

Oh God.

He could almost see his chance to save Hermione slip through his fingers. Mustering up all the courage he could find, he slowly turned around to face his father. To his confusion, however, his father was not there. Get a grip, Malfoy- you’re imagining things! But he heard his father’s voice again. Only then did he realize that the voice was coming from inside the room.

He set the food down and moved closer to the door, hardly allowing himself to breathe. He came as close as he dared and then strained to hear what was happening inside. She was crying again, hard. He could hear the terror in her voice as she begged, “Please don’t do this. Please stop!” His chest tightened and he listened further. “Shhh, I promise I'll make it feel good. You want it, don’t you, my pretty girl?"

Draco froze. Time stopped. The entire universe was reduced to the space around that room. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Who were the people in his family?!? His mind threatened to shut down because this was beyond his comprehension. His father was a hard man, cruel even, but this? No,no, no!! He willed it not to be. But he couldn’t erase what he’d just heard. His father was in that room about to betray Hermione's innocence in the most despicable way. He was in that room right now, about to betray his family. He was betraying his wife. He was betraying everything Draco believed about him, every reason he’d worked his whole life to make that man proud. In that instant, Draco felt his entire world come crashing down around him. Nothing inside him was left unbroken. Every shred of admiration and loyalty to his father vanished. He gripped his mother’s wand furiously and placed his hand on the door, hearing nothing but the blood pounding in his ears.

He threw open the door and his breath caught loudly in his chest. Hermione was still on the table; Lucius was leaning over her, drawing his tongue across her throat.They both looked up at the sound of the door. Draco stood there, looking dangerously unstable with a wand pointed at his father. Lucius’s eyes widened in alarm as his dirty little secret was discovered. He was quick to throw his fear aside, however. He narrowed his eyes at Draco and spoke threateningly. “Turn around and walk away, boy. This doesn’t concern you.” Hermione was gasping through her tears. “Draco-please-help me!”

“Get away from her.” His rage was so potent that the command he uttered was barely audible. He felt the familiar blaze of anger in his veins and his power began swelling inside him. It intensified as it spread throughout his body, extending all the way to his fingertips. Everything became clearer: his senses sharpened dramatically and he intuitively read his father’s mind. He knew that Lucius’s next move was to pull out his wand and hold it to Hermione’s head, using her life as leverage. He also knew he had no intention of letting his father get that far. As his father’s hand twitched ever so slightly by his wand, Draco silently cast a strong Expelliarmus charm. In an instant he had his father’s wand in his hand.

Lucius was stunned; his son had disarmed him! He stood beside Hermione and gaped at Draco. “Now, son-” he began, but was hurled into the wall with such force that it broke his left arm. He grunted in pain as Draco strode toward him with a murderous look in his eye. “I’m not your son.” Without breaking stride or looking away from Lucius, Draco swept the wand through the air toward Hermione. Her bindings broke instantly and she sat up, adrenaline keeping her pain at bay as she clamored off the table and hid behind it. Draco lifted Lucius in the air with his wand and held him there. His voice was low, perilous. “You make me sick.” He threw him to the far side of the room, slamming his head onto the floor.

Lucius cringed in the corner and pleaded with his son. “Draco, please- let me explain! Perhaps I went a bit too far-” Draco kicked him in the stomach as hard as he could. Lucius doubled over and collapsed face-down on the floor. “Don’t speak to me.” He pointed the wand at Lucius’s neck and instantly his father’s airway was shut off. He watched his father claw at his throat, his face turning purple. “You taught me this curse, remember?” he said softly. “You were so proud that I was such a fast learner. Well, I had the best teacher, didn’t I?”

He released the spell just before Lucius passed out. He stood over him and spoke once more, each word encased in ice. “A great teacher, but a pathetic excuse for a father and a husband. You’ve just disgraced my mother,” he hissed, “and I’ll never forgive you for that. I want nothing to do with you. I’m going to take Hermione with me and make sure that you’ll never find us. Keep your Death Eaters, keep your bloody Dark Lord, and keep your curse of a name. I am no longer a Malfoy.”

As he turned to walk away from his father Lucius spoke up, his words as bitterly cold as his son’s. “He’ll find you, you know- the Dark Lord. He won’t let such a crime as yours go unpunished. You’ll be marked for death now, you and your Mudblood. And you can’t run forever, Draco. You can’t escape him- you’ll never escape him.”

And his father began to laugh.

“I SAID SHUT UP!!!” Draco screamed, his composure breaking under Lucius’s chilling words. He kicked him in the face, feeling his father’s nose break under his shoe. He felt himself losing control of his emotions and, as a result, the power inside him. All the years he suffered at his father’s hands- all the beatings, the belittling, the all-too familiar taste of blood in his mouth, the chronic muscle pain from being hit with curses, that sneer always pasted on his father's face-it all came rushing out of him in a torrent of intense pain and hatred.

An eruption of raw power burst from him, forcing his head and arms back as it ripped from his chest. The sconces on the walls exploded and the door was nearly blown off its hinges. The very stones in the walls vibrated, loosing dirt and dust which drifted to the ground. Draco pointed his father’s wand at the corner of the room and blasted a great hole in it. The walls fell in and the ceiling gave way, burying Lucius in the rubble.

In the midst of the chaos, Draco heard Hermione scream his name. She called his name again, softer this time. Her voice washed over the fire in his veins and extinguished it. He felt his power draw itself back inside him and shut the door of the cage in which it lived. He ran to the table and found her on the floor, hugging her knees and trying to hide her body. She was still in her underwear and she had no idea what had happened to her regular clothes. He whipped off his long suit jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, kneeling down in front of her. “Are you okay?” he asked her in an anxious voice, realizing what an insanely stupid question it was.

She looked up, into his eyes. Without answering, she lurched forward and clung to him like a drowning man clutching a life raft, knocking him off balance. She was shaking violently as he pulled her onto his lap, holding her close. “I’m here, I’m here,” he whispered over and over, rocking her slightly. She was absolutely traumatized. “Don’t go!” she cried out, sounding terrified at the idea that he might. “I’m not going anywhere, Hermione,” he promised, hugging her tightly. “I’m here, I’ll always… be here.” He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. Slowly he found his mouth moving toward hers, compelled as if the rest of his body was playing follow-the-leader with his heart. He saw her close her eyes. He closed his as their lips touched. It was a gentle, tender kiss, a single pink rose blooming in the midst of a devastated landscape.

He pulled back and gazed at her, this jewel of a girl who’d been right in front of him for six years. He felt that he was finally seeing her for the first time. She touched his cheek with her fingertips and the ghost of a smile floated across her face. Then she winced and fell against him. Oh Merlin, she's hurt badly. Draco handed Hermione his mother’s wand, wrapped his suit jacket around her like a robe, then whisked her into his arms and carried her out of the destruction.