Chapter Twenty-Nine

Hermione

There is a single square window at the top of this cell, around twelve feet up from the ground. I have learned that, through this window, things can come in, but nothing can come out. Rain pours down from it, creating a delicate sound as it ventures down the wall. The sound would be quite relaxing if I was anywhere but here. Now it just dampens the stone floor of my cell, as it dampens my mood as well... which is already as bad as it can get.

My eyes yearn to look at something less dismal than what they have seen the past few days: piles of moldy food stacked against the wall, the occasional skeletal hand reaching through the bars, the brush of a tattered cloak passing by my cell. It's incredibly lonely here, the perfect punishment for a criminal. Send them into a room alone for days to dwell on what they have done. The only problem is that I haven't done anything wrong, so it leaves me to dwell on other things.

I need to see Draco again, before the Dementors find out that I am not supposed to be here. I won't have long after that. How could I even manage to let anyone know I'm here? There's no owl post here, no muggle telephones, and Dementors cannot understand human speech. So, there's no way to contact anyone, and I can't tell the Dementors that I'm innocent. This isn't fair at all... Wasn't I supposed to get a trial?

I lay down on the cold, damp floor, wondering how my life got to this point. Things had been going so well. Voldemort had finally been defeated, I was Head Girl at Hogwarts, and Draco was my boyfriend. It had been like a dream.

My eyes start to close; I haven't slept in days. I try to allow myself to drift off, but when I close my eyes, I can only think of Draco. All of my other problems disappear, and nothing matters but when I'm going to see him again. I miss his platinum hair, his icy eyes, his pale skin. I miss the way he looked at me, and the way he said my name. It's almost as if I can hear his sweet voice now.

"Hermione," He calls to me in my mind. His voice sounds sad, and I can imagine the tears falling swiftly down his face. He says my name again. I never knew my imagination could make impossible things sound so real. I open my eyes to end the torture of hearing his voice. It's unreal how much I miss him, and his voice in my mind is driving me insane.

"Please..." His voice pleads. I try to think of other things, but his voice is still here. Nothing allows me to push the thought of him out of my mind; in fact, he's slowly becoming more and more tangible. A couple of minutes later, I can still hear him. Why can't this stop? I sit up, trying to distract myself by looking at the carvings on the wall.

"Oh, thank God, you're alive." His voice says. It seems too real to be imagined anymore. I muster the strength to stand up and walk around, inspecting every corner in the cell, searching for him. "Up, Hermione. Look up." I follow his instructions, and my heart skips a beat. He is there. His face is visible through the window.

"Draco, are you really here? Is that you?" I ask, my voice trembling. For the first time in a while, I allow myself to get my hopes up.

"Yes, Hermione. It's me," He smiles his glorious smile that I've missed so much, but it disappears after just a moment. His tone changes when he says, "We've got to hurry. We don't have much time."

He throws one leg over the windowsill, followed by the other. His blonde hair is soaking wet, and his pale bare skin glistens with raindrops. He's been in the rain for quite a while; I can't believe he would do that for me.

"I'm going to jump. Watch out." He warns me, preparing to make the twelve foot drop. I try to stop him, but before I know it, he's already falling. I refuse to let him hit the cold stone floor. I rush to catch him, but I far underestimated my strength; we tumble to the floor together.

After a moment of catching our breath, he whispers, "Are you alright?" His icy blue eyes look into mine. For the first time since all of this started happening, I feel like everything is going to be okay. As long as I'm with him.

"I'm good. Never better," I answer, and I absentmindedly begin to smile. "I thought I would never see you again."

"I wouldn't let that happen." He smiles, his classic smirk. We sit up, and he suddenly wraps me in his arms. We hug tightly for a solid two minutes. Water falls from his face and down my arms, and I'm not sure if its raindrops or tears.

"I've missed you. So much." He says, his voice muffled by how tightly he's holding on to me. I nod my head. This moment makes it all worth it. All of the pain and suffering of Azkaban, everything that happened beforehand... it has all led up to this, and in this moment, I wouldn't want things to have been any other way. Sometimes things have to fall apart to fall back together. And now, we're together again, stronger and better than ever; that's all that matters.

He pulls away from the hug, kisses me on the forehead, and puts his hand in mine.  He looks me up and down.

"I'm sorry," I say, looking at the floor, "I can't even imagine how awful I look."

"Don't you realize just how hard I've fought to see that face of yours? Hermione, you've never looked more beautiful." A single tear falls from his eyes. I smile and wipe it away, stroking the side of his face. Before I know it, we're both leaning in for a kiss. The long-awaited kiss. But just as our lips touch, a cold atmosphere like I've never known sweeps over the room. The rain outside begins to fall harder, and Draco jerks backward.

"Oh, my God, this is all my fault. This is because of me. No, no, no!" He scrambles to his feet, and I follow suit.

"Draco, calm down. What's wrong?" I grab his shoulders and pull him into another hug, but this time, he is inconsolable.

"I shouldn't have wasted time. We should be gone by now! I tried so hard-" He cries, but he is interrupted by the sound of the prison bars fiercely shaking.

"What is it, Draco? Tell me!" I beg.

And with four words, an unparalleled fear is instilled in me, and it feels as if every ounce of blood rushes out of my body: "They're coming for you." Draco says it with such pain, such horror. 

Before I can respond, he picks me up and says, "I'm going to hoist you up, and you're going to climb out of that window. Get in the boat and sail until you find land and just Apparate somewhere safe."

"No, Draco! I'm not going without you!"

"You have to. You have so much to live for. You're the brightest witch of your age, and you have so much going for you. I don't have anything going for me. Without you, I am nothing. A Dementor's Kiss is the only one I deserve. Just go. You to!" His voice cracks on the last sentence. He has remained so strong for so long; but he's giving up now, and there is nothing I can do to stop him.

I kiss him. With everything that I am, I put my lips against his. This kiss is fueled by every time that I sat in this dreary cell thinking of him. Every time something tried to tear us apart. Every time he said he loved me. Every time he's come to my rescue, literally and figuratively. All of our memories are poured into a single moment, and our love for each other becomes more palpable than it ever has been before.

The prison bars hit the floor, and we pull apart. The Dementors glide into the room.

"I love you," I whisper to Draco, "forever."

"Forever." He promises.

He only has a moment to hoist me up. After a bit of work, I'm sitting in the window, watching helplessly as two Dementors grab each of his wrists and drag him out of the room. He doesn't try to fight against them. When he sees that I'm still in the window, he mouths "Go!"

With one last look at him, I drop onto the sand outside. I say to myself.

I wander around the perimeter of Azkaban, looking for the boat Draco was talking about. There has to be something in there that could help.  Once I find the boat, I climb inside and look around, desperately hoping to find something useful. I get down on my hands and knees, feeling the floor of the boat to see if there are any secret compartments. To my surprise, my hand comes across something. When I pick it up, I realize that it is Draco's wand. This is quite possibly the best thing that I could find; magic is prohibited here, but the wand isn't completely useless. Almost every curse can be broken if you try hard enough.

I hop out of the boat, and I immediately start running when my feet hit the sand. I've got to get to Draco. I'm so close to saving him, but time is so close to running out.

I come to a sudden stop. The Dementors are right around the corner, with their backs to me. Draco is lying on the ground, visibly shaking. It's about to happen. It can't wait any longer. I turn the corner and point the wand at them.

"" I say, just quiet enough as to where they can't hear me. Nothing happens. I try again, just a tad louder this time. Once again, not even a spark is conjured. The Dementors begin to get closer to Draco. My heart is pounding out of my chest.

"" I yell it this time, holding the wand firmly. A small, blue spark appears, but vanishes. I can hear the Dementors breathing in, and a dark blue streak comes from Draco's face. I muster up every ounce of strength within me. This has to work. I can't lose him again.

"" A swirling pattern of blue emerges from the end of the wand, and a shape begins to form. My Patronus is usually an otter, but it seems to have changed;  a white ferret emerges and bolts toward the Dementors. Once they feel the presence of the Patronus, they scatter, heading back inside of the prison. I run to Draco and collapse onto the sand beside him.

"Draco!" I exclaim, running my fingers through his hair, "Draco, are you okay?" His skin is much paler than usual, and his eyes are closed. I stroke the side of his face, and his skin is cold beneath my hand. He doesn't respond. What if I was too late?

"Please wake up, Draco. You promised me forever." A tear falls from my face and lands on his shoulder. I lay my head on his chest, softly crying. I can hear his heart pounding, which should be comforting, but you can have a heartbeat and have no soul. All that's left to do is wait, and get out of Azkaban as quickly as possible.

I pick Draco up, which is remarkable considering I haven't eaten in days so I have barely any strength. We reach the boat and I carefully lay him down across the floor. To my surprise, once I push the boat off of the shore, it begins to navigate itself.

The rain has finally stopped, leaving the ocean unusually calm. As the boat propels itself through the water, I lay down beside Draco, holding him in my arms. I don't know if he will wake up or not, and I don't know if he will be himself if he does wake up. But I do know one thing: we've fought hard for each other, and if that counts for anything, then everything will be okay.