Pride and Pretenses. (Dramione)

Chapter 29

"Are you ready for bed Izzy?" Draco called as he entered Sophie's suite. "Izzy?" he repeated after receiving no response. He looked around at the empty living room. "Sophie?" he called out, louder this time. Still no response. He checked the bathroom. "Sophie, are you in here?" The bathroom was empty. So was the kitchen and the play area. Draco went into his sister's bedroom, hoping to find her asleep to explain the lack of response. "Sophie?"
Nothing. Starting to panic, Draco checked everywhere once more - in the closet, under the bed, behind doors, the couch, anywhere Sophie might be hiding.
"Sophia Isabella this is not funny. You come out here right this instant!" Draco demanded trying to keep his voice from shaking. He knew something was wrong. "Dobby!"
Dobby appeared with a crack. "Master Draco!" The elf squeaked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here? Trying to look for Sophie!" Draco tried to keep the agitation out of his voice. "Where is she?"
"I thought she was with you."
"What do you mean?"
"Some house-elves saw a young lady leading Miss Sophie outside the castle. I thought you knew about the situation and would be meeting them."
Something about the way Dobby assumed nothing was wrong alarmed Draco. Clearly, he knew who the person was, otherwise, he would've been alarmed at Sophie's absence. "Who was it Dobby?" Draco asked coldly. Whoever that person was, if they hurt so much as a hair on Sophie's head, they'd be begging for death.
Dobby looked terrified now. "I...I b-b-beg your pardon s-s-sir," Dobby's voice was shaking. If looks could kill, Dobby's head would be up on a wall by now. "I thought you knew. I...I th-th-thought you told her about Miss Sophie."
"Who. Was. It. Dobby?" Draco asked though he knew the answer.
"Th-th-the Harrington girl. The one Master Draco is with."
With an angry swish of his robes, Draco walked out the door without so much as a backward glance.
Draco quickly walked toward the Gryffindor tower hell bent on finding Genevieve Harrington. Luckily, he didn't have to wait long.
"Draco, darling!" Genevieve greeted with a smile as she walked out of the library and saw him in the hallway.
Genevieve suddenly found herself slammed against the wall of an empty classroom, Draco clutching her robes.
"Where is she?" Draco asked, his voice dangerously low.
"Who are you – "
"The girl! The little girl you pulled out of Hogwarts earlier!"
Genevieve was scared. The look in his eyes made her believe that he really was capable of killing. "Draco, you're hurting me," she whimpered. Thankfully, he let go. She started to breathe a sigh of relief when suddenly a wand was trained on her chest. She looked up and met Draco's eyes. She had never seen so much hate in anyone's eyes before.
"Tell me where she is or I swear – "
"I don't know!" Genevieve blurted out.
"How can you not know?! The house-elves saw you with her!" Draco was yelling now but his wand remained steady at her chest.
Genevieve was scared but she was also confused. What the hell did he want with the little girl? She proceeded to tell him so. "She was looking for Granger. She's just another mudblood scum! One of Granger's many protégés. Don't you get it? Granger's trying to overrun our world with her kind! Can you imagine Granger's nerve – she even dressed up this kid in a Hogwarts uniform! So I put the girl back where she belonged – outside of Hogwarts! I did this school a favour. I left her outside the gate. Who knows where she is now? Frankly, who cares?"
Draco choked as he remembered the birthday present the Headmaster gave Sophie. But he couldn't breakdown now. He grabbed Genevieve's robes once more and pushed himself up against her.
"If anything happens to her I swear I will personally make sure you never breathe again."
Draco stormed out, leaving Genevieve gaping after him in shock.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Draco was scared. Sophie was somewhere outside the protection of Hogwarts. Who knows what, or more terrifying, who might find her? He needed to find her. He needed help.
Draco frantically made his way to Gryffindor Tower. He quickly showed the Fat Lady his prefect badge before bursting through the open hole.
"Hermione?!" Draco called as soon as he entered.
"How dare you?!" Ginny said indignantly when she saw him. "How dare you walk in – "
"Ginny?" Hermione asked as she walked down the stairs towards the common room. "What's going – "
"Hermione!" As soon as he spotted her, Draco called out, forgetting the Weaselette.
As soon as she saw him, Hermione turned around and started to walk up the stairs.
"She's gone!"
That stopped her in her tracks. She turned to face him.
"I know you hate me right now and you have every right to be but she's gone! Merlin, she's gone! You have to help me!"
Hermione didn't think twice. As soon as she looked into his desperate eyes and heard the words, she whipped out her wand, summoned her cloak and dashed down the stairs.
"Hermione, what are you – "
"Ginny, call Dobby," Hermione interrupted her friend. "Tell him to go find Snape. He'll know what to do." With that she followed Draco out of the tower leaving a bewildered Ginny behind.
oOoOoOoOoOo
A couple of hours passed and still no sign of Sophie. Draco and Hermione looked everywhere for the little girl, both outside and inside Hogwarts grounds just in case she found a way to get back in. The search had been tense, awkward, and silent. Draco's panic increased with each passing minute.
"Do you think she could've wandered all the way to Hogsmeade?" Draco asked, breaking the silence.
"Maybe," Hermione replied as they stood outside the gates once more. "Let's split up. You can fly around and see more from above."
"I can't leave you alone out here."
"I've walked to Hogsmeade tons of times before. I'll be fine. We need to find Sophie now."
"Fine," Draco reluctantly conceded. "But if anything happens, shoot up red sparks." He caught her gaze and looked at her seriously. "Hermione, if something does happen and you have a chance to run, take it. Screw your Gryffindor courage. Don't worry about me or Sophie. I'll find her. I don't have enough in me to worry about both of you right now. I need to know I can focus on finding my sister. Promise me you'll put yourself first."
Hermione scoffed. "Since when do you care? I'm here because I care about Sophie."
"Don't worry about me," she continued giving a hard laugh. "You never have before".
Her answer stung and he knew he deserved it but he can't let anything happen to her either. He looked into her eyes. "Just promise me," he pleaded. "Please Hermione."
Hermione looked at him coldly. "I don't owe you anything Malfoy."
oOoOoOoOoOo
The streets of Hogsmeade were dark and deserted at night. Hermione carefully walked around, the light from her wand casting eerie shadows around her. Suddenly, a hand clamped over her mouth as another arm locked her in a vice-like grip. Hermione kicked and struggled against her captor but to no avail.
"Silencio," said a deep voice.
Hermione panicked when she realized she lost her voice and couldn't scream. Her captor laughed, finding her panic amusing. More people came toward her, until enough light from their wands lit up her surroundings. Hermione looked around in horror at the crowd of hooded figures. DeathEaters.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Draco frantically flew around, keeping one eye out for Sophie and another for any signal that may come from Hermione. Suddenly, he felt burning pain shoot up his left arm. Draco struggled to stay on the broom as the Dark Mark felt like it was clawing its way out of his arm. When he finally landed and focused on the location, Draco was alarmed to find that he was being called to Hogsmeade.
oOoOoOoOoOo
"Ah Draco, how good of you to join us," Lucius greeted when Draco appeared.
As he looked around, Draco saw Snape with the crowd of DeathEaters, watching him. Draco's attention was shifted when a hooded figure brought Hermione forward, struggling in her captor's arms. She stilled when her eyes found Draco.
"You have served the Dark Lord well," Lucius continued. "You delivered the Mudblood to us and now your task is complete."
Hermione looked at Draco in shock. Draco locked eyes with her for an infinitesimal moment. The hurt and betrayal in her eyes made him feel sick to his stomach.
"Aww," Lucius mocked, enjoying Hermione's distress. "Did you trust him?" Lucius looked from Draco to Hermione. "Oh, what's this?" Lucius exclaimed with a manic grin. "Did you love him? Well, well, well, this is certainly interesting. Heartbroken over Draco, are you?" He spat in Hermione's face. "As if a Malfoy would willingly dirty himself with a mudblood."
Lucius' last comments made Draco reach for his wand when suddenly, he caught a flash of blonde by a building out of the corner of his eye. Draco looked toward Snape – Snape saw her, too.
"Since we're all done here," Snape said in a bored tone. "I'm going to head back to the school." He gave Draco an imperceptible nod.
"You're not going to see us present her to the Dark Lord?" Lucius asked.
"Unlike some people who only care about getting the glory, I have to do what's best for the Dark Lord." Snape sneered. "It would be highly suspicious if they discover Ms. Granger missing and I'm conveniently gone as well. It's alright Lucius, you take all the credit this time, seeing as how you desperately need it."
"You will slip up one of these days Severus, and I will be there to catch it," Lucius answered. "Let's go."
With a resounding crack, the DeathEaters disapparated with Hermione in tow.
When the street was empty once more, Snape hurried over to pick up Sophie.
"Uncle Sev!" Sophie exclaimed once she was in her godfather's arms. "I was so scared. The mean girl told me to get out and I didn't know where to go. It was soo dark." Sophie started to cry.
"Sshh, it's alright, I'm here," Snape soothed, thinking about killing Genevieve with his bare hands. "Let's get you back."
"Where's Draco?" Sophie asked.
"He was busy looking for you. He now went to tell your mother we found you."
"How would he know you found me? I didn't see him."
Usually, Snape found it great that they both inherited Narcissa's intelligence. Not so much this time. "Umm, I told him by magic. He had to go really quickly. Your mother was really worried."
"Ok," Sophie said with a yawn, seemingly satisfied with his response. "Will the mean girl kick me out again?" she asked sleepily.
"No, she won't do that again," Snape said darkly. "You can stay in my room tonight, how about that?"
When he received no response, he looked over to find an exhausted Sophie sleeping on his shoulder.