Love Never Dies. (Draco Malfoy Fan Fiction) (Watty Awards 2013 Winner)

Chapter 37: Back.

A/N: Hi everyone, thank you for the 9,000 reads! :) Please keep voting and continue to comment on anything that can be improved on. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as much as I loved writing it. I hope this chapter isn't too weird because I did it in a rush. The events probably don't link as well but hopefully it's still good. Thank you! x

Draco apparates the both of us to London, in the middle of a busy street. Everyone was in a frenzy. Stupid muggles. Wearing a tight dress wasn't much of a convenience either. Hand in hand, the both of us find our way to a small alley where we change our clothes with the swish of our wands. In a pair of jeans and a shirt, I seemed to fit in a little more. We step out from the alley stealthily, avoiding the eyes of the general public that seemed to be a stampede of unpleasant people. As we shove our way through the crowds, something catches my eye. I see something shiny in the distance. I stop in my tracks for a moment and I see the beaded bag Hermione once had, in the hands of Hermione herself. No doubt, to her left and her right were Weasley and Potter respectively. They entered a cafe I memorise the name of with ease. 

For a moment Draco and I were entangled in the mess of human traffic, losing track of the cafe across the street from the both of us. It wasn't long, though, before we reached the cafe that was obviously isolated from the chaos and people on its exterior. Wrapping my hand around Draco's wrist, we crept up along the walls beside the cafe's windows and peered through the windows from its side. Our duty was to get them out of the small restaurant and into the hands of the Dark Lord, though it wasn't my will. Well, neither was Draco's. We try to sneak up on the three of them when two other death eaters arrive, entering the cafe before either of us could even open the door. They strolled in casually, as if they were muggles themselves, just wanting to buy a cup of coffee. 

It wasn't long before there was a flash of light and tables were overturned. The sound of glass shattered and chairs beng flown across the room made my hair stand on end. Thank god neither Draco nor I went in first and that the other two got there first. I knew it was bad to think that way, but this was a game of survival now. If you were dead, hardly anyone would shed a tear because millions would eventually die in this war. The shutters that lined the window suddenly flew down, adding another divide from the magical chaos from the muggle world. My hand releases Draco's and falls to my side. I inch forward, trying to peer through the sides of the shutters but to no avail. The urge to know what happened to the two death eaters and to just talk to Hermione got the better of me and I take one large step forward to feel a firm hand on my shoulder.

I turn behind and Draco shook his head firmly, a frown appearing on his face. "Don't go in," was all he said before I retreat back to his hold. 

I turn back to face the window to see the lights being switched off and being 'lured' to some container. I needed to know what was going on, for some reason. Curiosity got the better of me and I shove my way to the door to find it locked, obviously. I unlock it with the simple flick of my wand and it clicks open. I turn the knob and I enter the cafe. It wasn't a surprise to find Draco following behind me, entering the ruined cafe too. All eyes were on me. Hermione, Potter and Weasley all had their wands held up in defense, pointed against the both of us. I wasn't afraid of their attacks because I was naturally good at defense and attack. My eyes shift for a bit to see the two death eaters on the ground, unconscious on the cold ground.

"Looks like we have company," Weasley nodded his head towards us. 

"Why are you here?" Hermione asked. Fear was etched in her voice and I could feel it in the air.

"Let's just say that it's our duty to find you and put you back to where you belong," Draco sneered from behind me.

"That's not going to happen," Potter commented indignantly. I was positive that neither of us could catch them and bring them back but an encounter with them would definitely be interesting. 

"I'm ninety-percent positive that somehow, some way, you'll slip away from our grip," I mutter, breaking eye contact from Hermione and the others. 

"Well then that will happen again," Hermione said in defense before they held hands and apparated off to some place I knew not the name of.

Hermione always knew how to make a dramatic exit with her intelligence and wit. I missed her friendship but I didn't miss her bratty personality that often got on my nerves. I continued staring into the darkness, my eyes fixated on nothing but my mind flourishing with endless possibilities of the Dark Lord being defeated and having everything make a turn for the better. I sighed, having not made any progress. The difference in alliances between my head and my heart has been making things difficult to cope with. I had a mission to complete, and so did the others. But all I wanted to do was to drop it and pretend nothing ever happened. 

"We have to go back to the house now," Draco whispered, wrapping his fingers around mine. I turn back from the scene and apparated back to the house.

We were in Lucius' study and he was pacing back and forth, Narcissa and Bellatrix seated on the sofa in the room, deep in thought. 

"Father," Draco acknowledged his father's presence, nodding towards his mother and aunt as well. 

"Draco, Rachel... There has been a change of plans," he said thoughtfully. "We're sending you two back to Hogwarts."

What?! Back to Hogwarts?! Back to that hopeless school of nothing? We have a mission to complete and sending the two of us back to the bloody school would only slow things down! 

"Snape is going to be there. He's going to assist the both of you in another task you've been given to replace the one you're on now. The Dark Lord finds that the both of you are far too unprepared for the mission you are now so he's sent the both of you on another one," Narcissa added, reassuring our doubts of sorts. "Snape'll let the both of you know more about it when you're there. Don't worry too much about it. The both of you are too precious to lose." 

"And the best part is - you don't have to attend any lessons with the teachers in the school!" Bellatrix added, laughing maliciously as she revealed her rotten teeth. 

I laugh stiffly too, trying my best to express my consent in a way that didn't seem as if I was feeling the opposite. Sensing my awkwardness and uncomfortability in the situation, Draco felt it too, I suppose. So he slipped his hand behind my back in assurance. The warmth that radiated from his hand was nice and secure, like I had someone to depend on. It wasn't long until his hand moved to my arm and held it there, pulling me towards him. My shoulder was pressed against his torso awkwardly with my legs far away, stuck on the ground in a weird angle. 

"You do, however, have to assist Professor Snape and attend some lessons with him privately to learn more about your new task," Lucius added. What he said seemed to silence Bellatrix for a moment before she went on whispering to Narcissa who smiled in return.

"When will we be leaving?" I ask, my voice shaking but not obvlously.

"In a week," Bellatrix continued like a steam train, answering my question right after I stopped talking. 

Panic flooded through my mind. What was so important that only Draco and I, together with Snape could do within Hogwarts? Well, only the two of us were students so I guess only we could complete whatever task the Dark Lord asked us to do that needed to be done in school. I cringed at having to go back to that hell hole. When Lucius nodded the both of us off, we left obediently, shutting the door behind us. Somehow, I had a guard feel that this task wasn't just any task. It was something much more dangerous and deadly than anything either of us have done.