from his skin and take to flight. It was one hell of a sight.
"Yes."
Ron was stark white. "Then death isn't instant, wherever she's gone?"
Harry turned back to Blaise and backhanded him hard, in the side of the face.
"Where does it go, Zabini?"
Blaise coughed a few times and then spat out a tooth. "I don't know"
Harry hit him again, harder. "Wrong answer. Where does it go?"
"I DON'T KNOW! I don't know where the portals send you, alright! I wasn't told. All I was-"
"How about we test it then?" Harry interrupted. He grabbed Blaise by the back of his hair and dragged him over to the coin, shoving his face over it. Blaise's sweat dampened fringe hovered mere centimetres above the coin.
"Since you' re so willing to send an innocent girl to her death, how about you go on ahead and tell us where that portal takes you, huh?"
Blaise laughed. The sound bubbled up from inside him. Revolted, Harry released him. A coughing Blaise crawled away backwards from the portkey. He sat back in the dirt and smiled, revealing blood-stained teeth.
"It wouldn't make a difference. Killing me won't bring her back, will it?"
"Malfoy, what are you doing?" Ron suddenly shouted.
Draco was standing over the coin. He looked like he was about to step on it. Harry, who was nearest, stopped him by tackling him around the middle. They scrambled in the dirt. Draco kicked at him once to get away, but stopped. He would need what was left of his strength.
"Let go," he told Harry, calmly.
Harry's eyes were red with unshed tears. He stared at Draco with a mixture of grief and cautious hope. "You're crazy."
"Let go of me."
"No," Harry swallowed and shook his head wildly. "You don't understand. It should be, it should me. It should always be me..."
"If anyone goes, it's going to be me. Now move away from me Potter," Draco repeated. "Please." Looking poleaxed, Harry pulled his shaking hands away from Draco. Behind him, he could hear Ron struggling with Blaise. He couldn't help Ron just yet, though. Harry only had eyes for what Draco Malfoy was about to do next.
Draco gave Harry a final look before he put a foot out and stepped on the coin
**
So cold. Dark. Can't move. Can't breathe!I'm under water
She was going to drown.
Oh God, please help me. I don't want to die!Think, Hermione!
She was in a cage. Metal. Rusted. Not very wide judging from the fact she could almost touch two sides if she stretched her arms out straight. It was tall, though. She had to swim upwards to reach the top.
I'm not going to die I'm not going to die.
Her searching, desperate hands clambered over something snagged at the bottom of the cage. Billowing cloth caught on a rough bit of metal bar. Slippery, slimy
Good lord, someone was already here!
Not someone. A dead body. Her calf brushed against a leg and she pulled back in disgust. It was a man. A man wearing wizard robes. Wizards carried wands!
She rummaged through his clothing. Her searching hands ran over his face. It was spongy, but she suppressed the desire to shrink away and kept on looking. His hands were empty. His pockets were not! Hermione nearly cried with relief when she produced a wand.
Dear God, her lungs were on fire. Her skin felt like it was shrinking around her, suffocating her. Holding the wand tightly, she turned it towards the bars of the cage and cast a basic Blasting Curse.
Nothing happened. Confused, she tried again. And then again. Alohomora had no effect either
It wasn't working. Why? Nononono!
Hermione ran her fingers down the wand. There was a pattern etched unto it. That was unusual, but other than that, it wasn't broken.
No more air left. Her chest was hurting so bloody much.
And then, quite suddenly, she wasn't alone. Not alone any more with the dead man and the strange wand in his pocket that didn't work. It was as if the small space in the underwater prison wasn't nearly enough to contain the two of them, her and Draco.
In complete disbelief, Hermione spun around in the water. She couldn' t see him, but she knew he was there with her. The horror she was feeling increased tenfold.
He was beside her. Those were his hands holding her, reassuring her that he was indeed real. The dragon on her hip lurched and slithered toward him, seemingly happier to see him that she was.
Why was he there? Had he been hit with a Portkey as well? Were