The Dark Side (Unedited)

Chapter 29

After a few moments of shock, Hermione began to speak.

"We need to see McGonagall." Her voice was strangled with worry and fear. They'd already lost too much, her heart couldn't afford the heartbreak of another war.

She glanced up to the Headmaster's chair to find it empty, as well as many of the professor's chairs.

It was clear that not many students read the Daily Prophet, as the Great Hall was still bubbling with cheery chatter. She slowly saw people begin to nudge their friends and point at the front page with their eyes wide open.

They stood hurriedly and briskly walked from the Great Hall. Draco grabbed Hermione's hand and she grabbed onto Ron's arm, noticing how strange it was to hear five sets of feet scurrying across to the headmaster instead of three.

"We've got a problem." Harry muttered as they reached the gargoyle guarding the headmaster's office. Hermione groaned as she realised what he was saying. They didn't know the password, meaning they would have to waste valuable time waiting for someone to arrive at the entrance that knew the password, or have someone come down and open it for them.

"A phone would be extremely useful in this situation."

"Is that one of those things that I talked to Harry on a few years ago?"

"Yes, Ron." She said, rolling her eyes. "Except people usually use them for communication, not for making your best friend deaf."

He snickered, before realising their situation and becoming silent again. Ginny was just about to sit on one of the stairs - as she found it hard to stand for long periods of time with her pregnant belly - when Hagrid came thundering down the corridor.

"What're you lot doin' down 'ere?" His booming voice seemed to fill the whole corridor, but Hermione was glad to hear his homely accent again.

"We've heard, Hagrid. Can you please let us into McGonagall's office? We don't know the password." Harry replied in a slightly impatient voice. Hagrid must have picked up on his distress, as he hurried over to the gargoyle.

"Fawkes." The gargoyle sprung to life and allowed them to pass through to the spiral staircase. Hermione silently thanked Hagrid for not mentioning Draco's presence. As far as she knew, he had no idea about their relationship, but he must have realised that the situation didn't need any more tension added to it.

Many voices were floating out of the room, and Hermione recognised Mrs Weasley's frantic tone and Aberforth's low rumble. Harry bursted into the room without bothering to knock, and McGonagall seemed too grateful at his appearance to care.

"Oh come in, I was about to send for you lot." Hermione was shocked at the anxiety that orbited off her and consumed everyone in the room, which was crowded with many Order members.

"Are you alright, Ginny dear?" Molly asked, her tone slightly less distressed than when Hermione had heard it from outside. "Come, sit down." She led Ginny to a chair and began to fuss over her. Hermione suddenly wished she had something to occupy her overwrought mind. She felt Draco put his arms around her and she leant into him, glad to feel his warmth.

"Now, for those who just came I will explain what has happened in a moment. For the rest of you, please begin what you have been assigned to do. Thank you." The large group began to line up at the fireplace and vanished one-by-one. Hermione peered at Harry and noticed that he was standing quite close to Ginny, his right arm quivering.

"Professor, what is going on? Who has escaped?" He stuttered. McGonagall turned to them, a grave look on her face.

"First of all, there have been no injuries or fatalities that we know of as a result of the break-out, which happened a week ago." Harry's face was masked with shock and anger.

"A week ago? Why didn't you tell us?" He yelled.

"Mr Potter, please. We all need to remain calm otherwise all hell will break loose. We have known of the Death Eaters trying to retaliate for months now. Our security was updated, and all of the Order members were notified."

"Really? Have they? Because I'm pretty sure that I was not aware of this." Harry's voice had become dangerously low, and Hermione felt the need to calm him down before he said something he'd regret.

"Professor, who has escaped?" McGonagall pivoted around to face her, obviously glad for the interruption of their quarrel.

"As far as I am aware, the Death Eaters who have escaped are Antonin Dolohov, Thorfinn Rowle, Amycus and Alecto Carrow, Goyle Sr., Rodolphus Lestrange, Yaxley, Crabbe Sr, and Lucius Malfoy."

Hermione felt Draco's heart take off on a rampage after he heard his father's name. He stiffened and she no longer felt the warmth she had less than ten seconds before the moment he had found out that the father that he despised was on the run once more.

"We are not aware of where they are, or what they are planning, if anything." She turned back to Harry. "Mr Potter, you were not informed as we did not want to disrupt another one of your school years. You have your NEWTs very soon and we were reluctant to distract you."

"School? You didn't tell me because you didn't want me to be unfocused? I don't give a -"

"However, other events that have transpired this morning have forced me to enlighten you and the rest of your friends of the danger." She paused, obviously thinking her decision through one last time. "We have had people monitoring the news for strange disappearances or anything that could be the work of Death Eaters. This morning, we were alerted of several abnormal disappearances. It appears that Fleur's sister, Gabrielle and Percy's partner, Audrey have gone missing." Ron's mouth dropped open, and Hermione felt dread work through her. It was starting again. McGonagall looked at Hermione. "Miss Granger, we have also had an alert from Australia. I'm very sorry to tell you, but it seems as though your parents have also been taken."

Her words hardly sank in before Hermione's body went as cold and hard as Draco's. She shook her head, trying to form sentences but she couldn't think straight.

"No, but.. but they don't even know who I am anymore! No, they couldn't have.. they couldn't have, I tried to save them -"

Suddenly, gravity became too strong for her, and she dropped towards the ground. As she fainted, her words died on her lips as she realised that it was all her fault. She had failed to protect them, and they were probably going to die because of her stupidity. These were the last thoughts to run through her mind before everything went black.