Unexpected Union

Chapter 29

It had begun snowing again, making visibility an issue. The cold winter air bit at his cheeks as he zoomed through the air, praying that he was heading in the correct direction. It would not do to get lost in a storm now.

Hermione ran up the stairs to the Astronomy tower as fast as her legs would carry her. Her lungs burned with the effort of running so fast through the castle. She had a bad feeling though, and new she needed to hurry. She knew something was very wrong. Bursting through the door that led out to the observation deck of the tower, she quickly scanned the area. No Ron. 'Oh Merlin,' she thought. Was she too late?

She ran across the platform to the edge of the balcony and looked down, terrified of what she might see. She did not see Ron, but unfortunately she didn't see much of anything. It had begun snowing hard, and the white flakes swirl in the harsh wind made it difficult to make out anything further than a few feet from her. "Ron!" She screamed, "Ron where are you?"

"He's a bit...tied up at the moment, I'm afraid." She heard from behind her.

Hermione turned to see Pansy Parkinson step out of the shadows toward her. "I'm disappointed in you really Hermione. You're supposed to be the smartest witch of your age. You really think that that sniveling ginger would have the guts to come up here to end it all? Pathetic. Oh well, it all worked perfectly in my favor though. In the morning, they'll find your body and everyone will be so sad that you were so distraught that Weasel murdered you." Pansy said as she stalked a few steps forward, her wand pointed directly at Hermione.

Hermione was so stunned, that her mind raced trying to catch up to current events. She glanced quickly behind her and cursed under her breath when she realized just how close to the edge that she was. Pansy was blocking her in. She was about to raise her wand to defend herself when Pansy screamed, "bombarda maxima!"

Hermione screamed as she felt the spell hit her directly in her chest, sending her flying backward off the edge of the tower and then she was falling down into the dark swirling snowy abyss. Her last thought before she blacked out was that she never got to tell Draco that she loved him.

Draco cursed as the snowstorm grew so heavy that he could barely see where he was. How was he going to find the tower in this mess? There wasn't time for him to fly aimlessly around in a storm. He knew he needed to get there now. Suddenly a bright light lit up the night, and he recognized the roofline of the Astronomy tower even through the swirling snow. He also saw a dark shape drop away down from the tower. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew it was her.

As fast as his broom would carry him, Draco dove straight down, praying he could reach her in time. His years of experience as the Slytherin Seeker came in handy as his eyes tracked the shape as it dropped. He was catching up to it, but would he be in time before she hit the rocks below?

The closer he got, the clearer he could see her. She was out cold. He needed to get to her. He was going as fast as the broom was capable of. He reached out a hand, desperately grasping for her. The moment his hand clasped around her limp arm and he was able to pull her over this handle of his broom, he pulled the broom up at a harsh angle to reverse direction and hopefully not dash them both on the sharp rocks below. He felt something hard brush his boot just before they soared back up into the dark night air. "Fuck," he cursed under his breath when it dawned on him just how close that meant they were to death.

Draco gripped onto Hermione's unconscious body with one hand while flying with the other, and made his way back up to the top of the Astronomy tower. He landed carefully, and saw a small crowd had formed on the observation deck. Pansy was on her knees in front of Harry who had his wand trained on the young witch. An unconscious Ron was tied up off to the side. What the hell had happened up there?

"Is she okay?" Harry asked, but he didn't take his eyes off Pansy.

Draco didn't answer, he knelt down next to Hermione's unmoving form, and pulled her head onto his lap. He stroked her hair while he begged, "Wake up. Please Hermione. You have to wake up."

Hermione didn't stir. Blood trickled from one nostril and the corner of her mouth. She was still breathing, but it was weak. "Please baby. Please. You need to come back to me," he begged again as a tear streaked down his cheek.

Draco was just about lift her up to rush her to the infirmary, when the door to the tower banged open, and out marched Professor McGonagall closely followed by Filch. Her eyes snapped to Harry holding Pansy at wandpoint. Then to a still unconscious Ron. "What on earth is going on up here? Explain yourselves!"

At that moment, a groan came from Hermione as her eyes fluttered for a moment in Draco's arms. The Professor's gaze then fell on the injured witch and rushed over toward them. "Malfoy, can you carry her to the Infirmary?"