As one of my new year resolutions, I have vowed to finish this story. Starting with this chapter, the loose ends will begin to be tied!
I want to give a huge thanks to Ms. Callie, Diane, and Frank for the corrections, suggestions, and all other input they gave to this chapter! It means so much to me! :)
Like always, please leave a comment after you read it. From a simple "I like it" to a complex criticism, I will take anything! And now, "The Tower" - hope you enjoy it!
Jenny
***
The Tower
The pungent smell of blood and dirt filled the young man's nostrils as a rush of wind swirled around him. Every inch of his body screamed in agony as he gradually became aware of his surroundings. Lying face down, he struggled to push himself up from the splintering floorboards. Sharp bolts of pain ripped up his arms as he collapsed back onto the cold wood. Coughing and sputtering, tears ran from his eyes as he tried to move as little as possible.
This was not what the young man had envisioned. Either he would have succeeded with his plan or died trying. There was never the third option of failing and ending up here, wherever here was, alive, with his breaths likely numbered.
He turned his head slightly to the left and managed to force open one of his swollen eyes. Albeit blurry, this place had a familiarity to it. He was a foot away from a support column of his prison enclosure. He was not in a traditional room. He followed the wood floor with his eyes as it continued to open air. He could see endless miles of trees. There were thick iron ropes that prevented someone from wandering off the platform where he was. It appeared he was in some type of tower.
Summoning all of his remaining energy, he turned his head to face the other direction and yelled out in pain. Some parts of him had been broken. If he was a betting man, he would have to say multiple parts. Gritting his teeth and clenching his eyes shut, he tried to control his breathing. At that moment he heard footsteps, heavy soles hitting the floor sharply.
"Welcome, welcome" The raspy voice called from across the room.
The young man moaned in response. Opening his ‘good eye,’ the only one he realized he could successfully open, he saw the other side of the room for the first time and gasped.
There was a large telescope protruding from the center of the floor.
With a deep chuckle, the visitor stepped from the shadows of the stairwell.
"Master Malfoy thought this would be the perfect place to bring you. He said this place would have so much meaning. "
The young man immediately recognized the traditional Death Eater garb. The man behind the mask was stocky and towered over the young man.
Speaking through his clamped teeth he managed to force out, "Why the Astronomy Tower?"
"Oh pardon me, I forgot. The symbolism isn't apparent with you like this." The death eater walked up to his crumpled frame and nudged it with his toe.
The Death Eater closed his eyes and raised his right hand, exposing a small, thin wand.
"Corpus Reconcilio!"
The young man's body flew off the ground with the force of the spell. At that moment he was sure he felt the pain of the entire world and then in an instant he felt none.
***
"You idiot!! Why would you use that spell? Most people don't live through it!" A high pitched voice screamed, bringing the young man back from the peace and serenity that had enveloped him.
"Well if he dies, at least he won't look like we roughed him up as much as we did. We don't need the days of healing and you know that. ‘Corpus Reconcilio’ is the only spell to get it done quickly," the raspy voice spat back.
"Master Malfoy won't have my head for this. You know what this boy means to him. We have too much at stake right now. You better hope he wakes up or you won't be seeing daylight."
The young man heard footsteps move away from him. He again attempted to open both his eyes, and was able to do so with ease.
"Good. You are up." The husky Death Eater stood up from the floor beside him. Walking away slowly, he turned on a dime and gave him a swift kick to the gut.
Curling up in a fetal position, the young man began to dry heave.
"That's for almost dying. With all of the effort we have put into this scene,” the Death Eater paused and ripped up a small piece of the floor board and hurled it over the side of the tower, “we can’t have you leave us on your own terms.”
“Now that we have that settled, let me tell you the rules. Master Malfoy put you up here to bring back some good ole' memories. I wouldn't try to escape if I were you. Although, if you get bored, you can always hop over the side of the tower here like your pal Dumbledore."
The death eater chuckled again and began to leave. The young man reached for where his wand usually hid.
Continuing to walk to the stairwell, the Death Eater called out, "You didn't really think we would leave you with your wand did you? Did you already forget who we are? I find that highly insulting."
An eerie silence blanketed the room. Even the wind had fallen still.
There were many times that the young man had felt alone in his life, but this instance trumped them all.
***
Hermione repositioned the clips in her hair as she stood outside an ornate mahogany wooden door with a beautifully carved phoenix. The hallway was empty. Void of windows and other doors, torches lit the fifty feet of stone wall and floor. She brushed her straightened hair behind her shoulders and turned to glance back at the auror guards who stood at the elevator entrance. She wasn’t sure how she had managed to get through the throngs of surprised witches and wizards at the Ministry of Magic Commons. Perhaps it was the mere shock that had allowed her to slip past.
Many were in pursuit, however, most notably the reporter Rita Skeeter. She could pick out that curly blonde hair anywhere! Ms. Skeeter would be waiting for her to exit.
Hermione puckered her face and growled under her breath. This was not the time to mess with Hermione Granger, not now. She ran her hand over the crumpled cloth letter in her right suede jacket pocket. If people didn’t already know Rita Skeeter was an unregistered animagus, they would now if that snake wrote even one word with that acid green quill of hers.
Taking a ragged breath, she knocked on the wooden door. The door began to rattle and the phoenix opened its wooden eye. With a slight pause in movement, the extended wings of the beautiful bird pushed from the door an inch and slid down, half a foot. With that, the door creaked open towards Hermione and light cascaded from the room.
“Hermione, what a wonderful surprise.” A tall, black wizard with a single gold earring in his left ear and a booming voice stood up from his paper-littered grey marble desk that sat in the middle of the room. His deep purple robes straightened as he moved towards her.
Hermione squinted at the bombardment of bright light. The room’s walls were covered with windows, some small, some reaching from the floor to the ceiling. Most were rectangular, but a few were circles and squares. Much to Hermione’s surprise, there was one random triangular shaped large window stained with a purple sphere to the right of the room. It was here that several high-back wooden chairs were gathered around, as chairs would around a fireplace.
“Sorry about the light, it makes the room feel less like an office and more like I am outside. That’s what I loved about being an auror – having assignments that lead me out of the traditional workplace.” He smiled at the brown-haired girl and motioned to the chairs near the triangular window.
Hermione smiled and bowed her head as she walked past the minister to the chairs.
“You and I have had quite the week, haven’t we Miss Granger?” He spoke quietly as he trailed a few steps behind her.
“You have no idea minister.” Hermione shook her head. “I am not even sure what is truly going on.”
“Well from what I understood, up until mid morning, was that you and Ronald Weasley had been kidnapped from St. Mungo’s by Death Eaters who had broken out of Azkaban. The only thing that didn’t make sense was the strong charm on your flat that denied us entry. We deduced that perhaps your flat was a meeting place where the Death Eaters had gone with both you and Mr. Weasley after the attack. This was deemed plausible until we saw you on your own accord allow entrance to your elderly neighbor.”
Minister Shacklebolt sat down in the chair next to Hermione and leaned forward.
“Ms. Granger, how did you get from St. Mungo's to your flat?”
Hermione’s face flushed and her eyes fell to the floor. Would he even believe her if she told him the truth. What did she have to lose?
Hermione looked back up at the minister and gathered everything she could remember. She proceeded to tell him about the power outage at St. Mungo’s and running into Draco who persuaded her to go to her flat. She continued with the imprisonment on her couch and the fact that Draco’s foot had been left on her living room floor.
“So you are telling me that Draco Malfoy convinced you to apparate the both of you to your flat. Essentially binding you to your couch, he placed strong charms on your house blocking entry of others, left his foot and attacked St. Mungo’s with the other Death Eaters, taking Mr. Weasley hostage?”
Hermione nodded, rubbing her temples, and exhaling loudly.
“Hermione are you familiar with this window?”
Hermione turned toward the triangular window. Only one thing came to mind.
“The Deathly Hallows Symbol?”
“Very good.” Minister Shacklebolt smiled. “This is very similar, very similar indeed. The only thing that sets these two symbols apart is a simple vertical line that dissects the triangle and circle in the Deathly Hallows Symbol. Both are from the oldest forms of magic ever recorded, however the symbol here was the original before it was modified by, as the story goes, Death.”
Hermione stared at the triangle. She had never heard anything about this and hung to his words with bated breath.
“The Deathly Hallows Symbol is to be found on all three Deathly Hallow items, engraved by the incantations of Death himself. When the original symbol is broken down, the circle can be defined as the third eye, an opening to the soul, the immortal part of a living being. The triangle around it represents the body of a living being and the three characteristics to remain alive and whole: vitality of life, strength, and knowledge.”
“By intersecting these two, Death created a connection from the mortal part of a being to the immortal. He tied this symbol to three different items that resonated from the points of the triangle. Thus came forth the elder wand, the resurrection stone, and the cloak of invisibility. If a person were to obtain all three items they could become the Master of Death.”
“The original symbol, also known as ‘Temple of the Eye’, with the proper old magic spell, does not make a person immortal. This spell, however, allows the caster to be somewhat of a seer, using their human body to be able to read thoughts, view past experiences, and on the occasion to foresee the future.”
“You see Hermione, I wish to believe what you have just conveyed to me, but I need more proof. The events of the past few days just don’t make sense. The wizarding world could be heading into a third war. We don’t believe Voldemort is back, yet we don’t understand who would have the power to cause a resurgence of Death Eaters.”
“What I need you to do is place your hand on the purple circle, and all I will do is review the past several hours.”
Hermione was dumbfounded. She looked back at the minister.
“It makes sense that you might not believe me, but why not use a Pensieve for the memories or just give me Veritaserum instead?”
“Through this old magic,” Minister Shacklebolt continued, “I can not only see what you saw, but feel what you felt. It is much harder to change memories through this method and I can get more in depth information. Please place your hand on the circle.”
Hermione shuddered and did as she was instructed. She placed her hand over the sphere on the window and the minister placed his left hand over hers. He raised his right hand wielding his wand and tapped the top of their hands.
“Verum mens, verum somes, verum animus. Moments narro totus. Ostendo Mihi.”
Hermione watched a white light string from the tip of the wand and dive through their hands. She immediately felt a shock snake up her arm to the back of her neck. She peered at the Minister whose eyes had gone blank. She couldn’t help but feel a little nervous of what he would find. Had she missed something?
After what seemed like several minutes, Minister Shacklebolt nodded his head.
“Thank you so much Ms. Granger. What I viewed validates your verbal story exactly. The whole situation still continues to perplex me. While I consult with the auror team, we need to worry about the security of you and Harry.”
Hermione backed up from the window and fully faced the Minister.
“Me and Harry?”
“Well it appears that the events of this past week have focused on the “golden trio” with the intent to harm and capture, and most likely to kill. We will continue to look for Ronald Weasley and must focus on protecting both you and Harry. I am not sure why Mr. Malfoy chose to save you when he was obviously in on what the Death Eaters were planning. In addition, I don’t know how he could have led a follow-up attack on St. Mungo’s missing an essential appendage. That is the baffling part.”
“Back to security, Ms Granger, we will have aurors detailing you day and night as soon as I can arrange it. You, however, are your best protector. I have witnessed your bravery in the past and have no doubt in you now. You must, however, keep hold of your wand. We retrieved it from the hospital.”
The minister walked from the grouping of chairs to his desk and opened up the top drawer. He pulled out a wand length box and removed the top cover. Taking his wand from his chest pocket he tapped the open box twice, whispering something that Hermione could not hear. The minister smiled and picked up the box.
“Ms. Granger, can you come here?”
Hermione wove through the chairs and walked up to the large desk. She looked into the box. Sitting there were two small wooden stick earrings. She furrowed her brows.
“Is one of them my wand?”
“Precisely! You shall wear them as earrings. If you are captured, earrings are something they won’t focus on when searching for your wand. When you are ready to return your wand to regular size, grab the base of them while attached to your ears and say, “Trabaugeo.” The counter spell is the familiar “Reducio.”
Hermione slipped her hands in the box and removed the earrings. Examining them one more time, she placed them in her ears. Pulling her hair around the earrings she gave a small smile.
“I want to thank you for my wand, Minister. I was starting to feel lost without it.”
“Any time Ms. Granger, it is the least we could do. I am elated that you are safe. For now I must send you on your way. The aurors will head in your direction shortly. Keep a good head about you. Take care.”
With that, the minister took a seat in his chair and began to shuffle through some paperwork.
Hermione turned and headed out of the room. It was just starting to sink in about what the minister saw in her memories. Did he see the kiss with Harry? Did he see the way I had felt with Draco at my flat? She felt sick to her stomach.
As she made her way on the elevator she tried to clear her thoughts. She would attempt to contact Harry. She needed to talk to someone and he would listen. She could ignore what had happened at the hospital if he could. The thought of speaking to Harry lifted her spirits. She had always been able to confide in him before.
As she thanked the second set of aurors in the elevator she stepped out into the crowded common room of the ministry. Before catching a glimpse of the Floo Network, a flash of blonde sped past the corner of her eye. She looked around and picked up her pace.
“Not so fast Ms. Granger, not so fast.”
Hermione spun on her heels and was face to face with Rita Skeeter.
“Leave me alone! I don’t want to speak to you!”
“I am afraid you don’t have an option.” A sharp smile formed on the bright red lips of the curly blonde haired woman.
“I don’t have an option? I am sure people would love to know your other form. I black-mailed you once, I can do it again. DO NOT PUSH ME!” Hermione hissed in the reporters face.
“Oh but I want to know Hermione, how did you escape St. Mungo's? We were looking all over for you!”
Hermione’s face fell in disbelief.
“What did you just say?”
“What I meant to say, Ms. Granger, is that you are coming with me. You have a certain someone that wants to meet you, again.”
Rita Skeeter put her wand up to Hermione’s neck and everything went black.
***
Hermione woke up to a cold wind whipping through her hair. Her head was pounding and she pulled the blanket that was covering her over her face.
“I must have left the window open,” she murmured.
Stretching out her cramped arms, she hit a warm body who let out a loud snore.
The sound immediately woke her from the haze she had been in. She threw off the cover and sat up. Taking in her surroundings over the span of a minute, her breath caught in her throat. Was this a dream?
She was at Hogwarts! Not only that, she was in the astronomy tower of the school!
Panicked, her pulse began to race. When did I get here? Why am I here?
That’s when she heard the snore again. She had forgotten that a noise had originally aroused her from unconsciousness.
She turned towards the source of the sound and quickly pulled herself to the center of the room.
“DRACO?!?”
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