Pride and Pretenses. (Dramione)

Chapter 15

Your mission should you choose to accept it...
Hermione could hear the theme song to Mission Impossible in her head as she crept down the hallway of Malfoy Manor. Dressed in an elegant royal blue gown with Polyjuice giving her bright blue eyes and straight blonde hair, she felt more like a Barbie doll than a Bond girl.
Focus, Hermione!
The Malfoys were throwing an elaborate ball to celebrate the completion of the new wing of the Ministry of Magic they had helped fund. Voldemort was, of course, not in the manor that night as the most important ministry officials, the Minister of Magic, included, were invited to attend. Dumbledore saw it as the perfect opportunity for the Order to try to acquire Slytherin's locket since, as was mentioned, Voldemort wasn't present and neither were the more questionable (and often more violent) Deatheaters. After all, the Malfoys had to keep up appearances if Lucius was to keep his influence.
The plan was simple: As part of the Ministry, Kingsley Shacklebolt was invited to the ball and he would bring Hermione (disguised as someone else, of course) as his date to let her gain entrance. As the party went on, she would slip away unnoticed to go look for the locket. A source had told them that the locket was kept in a secret compartment in the fireplace of a guest bedroom in the East Wing of the Manor. Once found, she was supposed to retrieve it, go back to the party and exit through the one-way floo the Malfoys had activated in the front room to allow guests to leave. To leave no tracks, she was to floo to the Leaky Cauldron where Tonks would be waiting for her to escort her back to Grimmauld Place.
At first, Hermione was reluctant to accept. Surely there were more skilled Order members than she. When Dumbledore explained the situation, she realized that she was the only one for the job. To minimize the risk of the information being leaked, only certain Order members knew about the Horcruxes – Dumbledore, Lupin, Mr. Weasley, Kingsley, Tonks and of course, the trio (and Genevieve). For obvious reasons Dumbledore couldn't go, Lupin was out of commission because of the full moon, and as a relative, Tonks couldn't go because the Manor would know her magical signature and detect her presence right away. Mr. Weasley and Kingsley were invited but because people knew them and knew they were there so they couldn't simply slip away unnoticed. Harry was too important to go and risk capture. And Ron...well, it takes 10 Rons to screw in a lightbulb. As for Genevieve, brilliant student that she is, she was yet untested in these situations. Besides, she merely knew about the Horcruxes because she happened to be in the right place at the right time. That left Hermione to the task and she had never said no to Dumbledore yet.
So they planned every detail, Hermione memorized the Manor's layout, and made contingency plans. Should anything go wrong, Mr. Weasley and Kingsley were there as her back-up. If for some reason the floo was unavailable, Hermione would return to Kingsley who would then excuse himself and both would leave the party. For added security, the coins Hermione developed for the DA were now used by the Order and Hermione would wear one that night to send a distress signal if needed. Everything was set up and planned down to the tiniest detail. Or so they thought...
Hermione quietly but quickly walked down the hallway following the map in her head. She finally saw the door of the guest bedroom she wanted at the end of the hall when a house elf rounded the corner and approached her.
"Miss looks lost," the house elf said in a mocking tone, reminding Hermione of Kreacher. "Can I help Miss look for something? Master would not appreciate having a Mudblood wander the halls of the Manor. No indeed."
Unfortunately, a portrait nearby overheard the house elf before Hermione had a chance to stun the creature.
"A Mudblood in Malfoy Manor?!" The portrait screeched. "This is abominable, a disgrace –" Hermione silenced the portrait with a spell.
However, luck was not on her side. When the portrait screeched, 2 Deatheaters posed as guests happened to be walking by on their rounds and they were bored. At the mention of the word "Mudblood", they decided to have some fun. Before Hermione could react, the 1st Deatheater had stunned her while the other grabbed her by the waist and covered her mouth.
"Well, well, look what we have here," the 1st Deatheater said. He was tall, thin, and had short, dark, greasy hair framing a long face. He grinned maliciously.
The other one, also a man but with a larger build chuckled. He sniffed Hermione's hair. "Funny, you don't smell dirty. But don't worry pet, we'll soon take care of that for you."
Both Deatheaters laughed. The thinner one spotted the coin around Hermione's neck. "Such an unusual necklace," he said. "I bet it could fetch quite a price," he said to his companion. Panicked, Hermione bit the other man's hand.
"Ow!" he exclaimed letting her mouth go. "Why you – "
"Let me go! I don't think Lucius Malfoy or the Minister would appreciate you harming one of their guests," Hermione said defiantly trying to keep her composure.
"Ay, this one's fiery!" the large one chuckled. "Silencio! Petrificus Totalus!" He held Hermione tighter and whispered against her ear. "Lucius Malfoy would not care about the well being of some mudblood and the Minister," he continued with a sneer. "Is too busy mingling and getting drunk to notice."
The thin one ripped the necklace off Hermione's neck causing her to gasp. "You won't need this where we're taking you," he said, taking Hermione's only means to call for help.
oOoOoOoOo
Meanwhile, Tonks waited for Hermione at the Leaky Cauldron. When the girl didn't arrive after Tonks waited for the allotted time, she assumed that the floo was unavailable and Hermione had left with Kingsley. She proceeded to meet them at Grimmauld Place.
At the party, Kingsley looked at his watch. When he didn't hear anything from Hermione after a certain time, he assumed that all went well. After a few moments, he excused himself and apparated to Grimmauld Place. After seeing Kingsley leave, Mr. Weasley followed him soon after.
oOoOoOoOo
Back at Grimmauld Place, Harry and Dumbledore waited anxiously for Hermione to arrive. At first Harry was outraged that they were willing to put Hermione in such a dangerous position. Like Hermione, he eventually saw that there was no other choice. However, that didn't stop him from worrying about her. He expected Ron and Genevieve to jump at the chance to wait for Hermione with him at Grimmauld Place. When he told them of the plan, Ron looked at Genevieve who then said, "We're just as worried about Hermione as you are Harry but we can't all go."
"People will know something's up if all 4 of us suddenly disappeared," she reasoned. "The Deatheaters could be alerted and Hermione will be in even more danger."
Harry couldn't argue with her logic.
Pop!
The sound of someone apparating made Harry look up.
"Is she here yet?" Tonks asked. At their negative answer, Tonks added, "She must be with Kingsley then."
Pop!
"Is Hermione here?" Kingsley asked. At which point, Harry jumped up.
"What do you mean 'is she here'? She's supposed to be with you!" Harry yelled.
oOoOoOoOo
Hermione woke up with a crick in her neck. She was a bit disoriented when she looked around and found herself in a dark, musty room. When she felt the silk bodice of the gown she was wearing, her memories came flooding back. Before she had time to gather herself, she heard footsteps. A sliver of light revealed that she wasn't in a room, but in a cell. The thin Deatheater who attacked her had come back.
"Get up mudblood," he commanded. When Hermione looked up, he gasped in surprise, then a wide smile slowly spread across his face. "Well, well, isn't this rather exciting?"
Shit! Hermione thought as she noticed the brown curls on her shoulder.
The effect of the Polyjuice had run out.
oOoOoOoOo
"My Lord," the thin Deatheater nervously addressed a figure nearly hidden in black robes talking to Lucius Malfoy. "I think there's something you should see."
"What is it now Avery?" an exasperated, snake-like voice asked. The figure turned around making Hermione's blood run cold. Voldemort spotted her right away. "Ah, Ms. Granger," he hissed. "So nice of you to join us." He turned to Avery and obtained his account of what happened. "I think a celebration is in order, don't you? We have quite the celebrity in our midst. Call the others in here now."
"Ms. Granger," Voldemort turned his attention back to Hermione, his slit-like red eyes narrowing menacingly. "We can make this easy or we can make this hard. Why did you come to the Manor tonight?"
Hermione didn't answer. More Deatheaters had entered the room.
"Ms. Granger, I'm asking you a simple question. Why were you at the Manor tonight?" When Hermione remained silent, Voldemort became mad. "Do you like pain Mudblood? Crucio!"
Indescribable pain she's never felt before shot through Hermione making her gasp. Her nerves felt like they were on fire and at the same time she felt like she was being stabbed with a thousand knives.
At this point Draco entered the room after being summoned by his father. He was shocked and disturbed to see Granger writhing in pain on the floor. Still, she refused to cry out.
Voldemort stopped the curse. He levitated Hermione off the floor and forced her to face him. "I'll ask you again. What were you looking for?!"
"Go to hell," Hermione said insolently, breathing heavily.
"Crucio!"
Again, Granger fell to the floor, shaking in pain, still refusing to cry out.
Voldemort cursed her over and over again. Still, Hermione refused to cooperate. Draco couldn't help but admire her stubbornness.
"I see," Voldemort hissed after using the Unforgivable numerous times. "If the curse won't work on you, I'll just have to get it directly from the source. Legilimens!"
Hermione felt the spell tug on her mind and with great effort she put up a wall to block it. Voldemort grinned when he felt her block and narrowed his eyes. Hermione felt Voldemort pushing harder and harder against the wall in her head. Weakened from numerous rounds of the Cruciatus, Hermione couldn't hold out for much longer. When Voldemort delivered the final push that finally broke through her wall, Hermione threw the first memory she thought of that was unrelated to Harry or the Order. Voldemort suddenly withdrew from her mind laughing. The memory was of Cedric holding Hermione by the lake as they enjoyed the afternoon sun.
"Ah," Voldemort said with an inspired, manic grin.
For the first time that whole night, Draco saw real fear pass through Hermione's wide eyes.
"Now Mudblood," Voldemort continued still sneering. "It's my turn to show you something." Voldemort locked eyes with Hermione and the night of Cedric's death from his point of view played through Hermione's head.
A terrible agonizing scream ripped through Hermione's throat and she passed out.
oOoOoOoOo
That night, Draco quietly crept down to the dungeons. He immobilized and stunned the two Deatheaters guarding Hermione's cell and quieted their fall.
"Lumos."
With the small light from his wand, Draco was disturbed to see the normally strong Hermione curled up into a ball with tears quietly streaming down her face.
"Granger," Draco said quietly hoping to gain her attention. He entered her cell and approached closer when she didn't respond. "Granger!" He whispered urgently, kneeling down in front of her. He held her chin and tilted her face up, forcing her to look at him. She gazed unseeingly through him and he was shocked at the emptiness in them. "Hermione," he murmured softly.
Her name seemed to pull her out of her stupor. Her eyes focused on his. "Malfoy?" she asked weakly.
"Yes," Draco said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I need to get you out of here but we need to move fast. Can you stand?"
Hermione tried with great effort but her legs felt like jelly. "I don't think so," she said weakly.
Draco picked her up and Hermione put her arms around his neck. They hurriedly made their way to the other end of the dungeon where Draco tapped a brick with his wand revealing a hidden staircase. He felt Hermione growing limp with exhaustion as he climbed the stairs.
"You have to stay with me Hermione," he pleaded. "You're almost home but you have to stay with me." Hermione weakly squeezed his shoulder. "That's it. Fight it."
They continued like this until the staircase ended and the wall opened, revealing what looked like Draco's bedroom. Draco carried Hermione over to the fireplace where he gently let her down into a standing position, with him still supporting her.
"I'm going to do an energy spell to give you a small boost so you can get through the floo ok?" Draco told her. Hermione nodded. With a wave of his wand, Hermione found just enough strength to stand up by herself. Draco threw a handful of floo powder into the fireplace and said, "Hogwarts!"
As Hermione turned to enter the fire, she felt something small pressed into her hands. Her eyes grew wide. "Thank you," she said softly before disappearing into the fire.
oOoOoOoOo
Back at Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall was anxiously waiting for news from the Order in the Headmaster's office. Suddenly, the fireplace glowed green and who should come stumbling out but the missing girl herself, Hermione Granger! Hermione held out Slytherin's locket before promptly collapsing unconsciously on the floor.