|| Star-Crossed ||

77

Escape

HARRY POTTER

Draco's eyes scanned the room and he gritted his teeth. "What is this?" he asked. "Snatchers picked them up in the woods. Seems your friends betrayed you...again." a death eater said. Draco walked over to Theo. Theo just smiled. "You've been a good mate, but you have to let me go," he said quietly. Draco's face faltered for a moment and I saw him swallow his pain and he nodded. "Put him in the dungeons with the Lovegood girl. I'll speak to the Dark Lord about his execution," Draco said. As they pulled Theo towards the dungeons, he stopped at the cage. "Move along," the death eater snapped. "Give him a moment. They can say goodbye," Draco said. They nodded. He gripped the bars and looked at Caroline. "Don't give up, please." he whispered. She stood in front of him and wrapped her hand around his. "I love you, Caroline. There's a lot I regret but I don't regret anything I did for you." he said. "Theo," she said softly. "Don't give up. Don't give them the satisfaction of thinking they broke you," he said. She nodded. Then they pulled him away. "Theo!" she cried out. She reached out for him but they dragged him downstairs. I watched tears fall to her cheeks and she wiped them away with one hand. She always kept one hand over her chest, trying to cover herself from the eyes of everyone here. "Why did you ask for me?" Draco asked. "You went to school with Potter for years. Is that him?" the death eater asked, gesturing to me. Draco walked over and stood in front of me. He was inches from my face and I stared at him. "Do you have a plan?" he whispered, his voice so quiet I barely heard it. I shook my head. "Hit me," he whispered. My eyebrows furrowed together and I looked at him. "Hit me," he said. I punched him in the face and he fell back as blood seeped from his nose. "Fucking prick!" he yelled. He grabbed me and started pulling me away. "Where are you taking him?" Lucius asked. "The dungeon, I need to think. Bring the other 2," he said. He dragged us to the dungeons and threw me on the ground. All of the sudden, he started punching me over and over. I heard Hermione and Ron yelling. He punched one more time and stood up. I rolled over and they stormed out. Hermione and Ron ran over. "Are you alright?" Hermione asked. "What the hell was that?" Ron asked. I turned over as blood covered my face and I smirked. I held up the wand he had shoved in my coat as he punched me. "It was a cover," Theo said smugly. I nodded. Ron helped me up and I looked around. Theo, Luna, Ron and Hermione stood with me. "1 wand and 5 of us. And we have to get Caroline and get out of here. Any ideas?" I asked. We all started to talk then I heard a scream. Caroline's scream. I froze and my stomach lurched. "We don't have time for this. If we're going to do something, we have to do it now." I said. They nodded. I unlocked the door with the wand and we ran upstairs. Caroline was out of the cage and laying on the floor at a death eater's feet. He was crucioing her. We ran in and I stupefied them. Theo punched Lucius in the face and Ron fought another death eater. Draco tried to hex me but he missed by like 5 feet. I knew why. He had to make it look real. Hermione pulled off her jacket and wrapped it around Caroline. Then I picked her up. She was unconscious and her head fell limp against my body. "Everyone to the door-" I started. "Stop!" a voice yelled. We all turned around and Lucius was standing, holding a knife to Theo's throat. He looked at me and smiled. "Go, I'll be ok," he said. I looked at Hermione. "I don't know, Harry," she said. "Move and I'll slit his throat," Lucius said. "Get out of here, go!" Theo said. "I'll kill him. I'll do it!" Lucius said. "No, you won't." Draco said. He pointed his wand at his father and I watched. "He's a traitor! If you defend him, you are too!" Lucius said. "Then I guess I'm a traitor," Draco said. "Stupefy!" he yelled. Lucius fell to the floor and Theo ran over to us. "Come on, mate. Let's go!" Theo said. Draco walked over and looked at Caroline. He moved some hair from her face and kissed her forehead. "I love you," he whispered. Theo looked at him with tear filled eyes. "You're not coming with us, are you?" he asked. He shook his head. "My mother. If I leave, she's dead." he said. "If you stay, you're dead," Theo said. "I know. That's not what this was about, Theo. You know that. This was about Caroline. She's safe now. That's all I wanted," he said. Tears fell to Theo's cheeks and he nodded. Then he hugged him. I looked at Draco. "Thank you, Malfoy," I said. He nodded. "Tell her I'll miss her," he said. "Don't you want us to tell her you love her?" Ron asked. He smiled as he looked at her. "She already knows that," he said. Then he stepped back. "Go, before they come to." he said. We nodded and left. Ron took us to the Shell Cottage where Bill and Fluer were staying. Then we went inside.