hadn't faced any of her former schoolmates in a battle, but she knew from other members of the Order that Draco was a dangerous opponent. The Order knew he was rising up the ranks quite rapidly and he was already in control of his own band of Death Eaters, which consisted of his friends and some of the other younger Death Eaters.
"Surprised to see me?" Draco grinned wickedly.
"I triggered an alert, didn't I?" Hermione asked, stalling for time as she tried to find a way past her former school mate.
"You did," Draco confirmed, knowing Hermione was stalling and not really caring. He knew there was no escape for the feisty witch. "I thought you were smarter than that, Granger."
"So did I," Hermione muttered, her eyes still darting around the room as she continued to look for an escape route.
"There's no escape, Granger," Draco remarked. "Blaise and Theo have your friends outside, and I've got you trapped."
Hermione opened her mouth to warn the blond that she wasn't going to go down without a fight when the entire chalet began to shake. Hermione instantly knew Draco wasn't causing whatever it was that was happening, as he looked just as shocked as her by the sudden movement. However, before she had a chance to work out what was happening the shaking increased and Hermione spotted Draco's panicked face before he went tumbling backwards down the stairs. The shock of seeing Draco disappearing down the stairs was short lived for Hermione as the chalet continued to shake and the bookshelves behind her pulled away from the wall and before Hermione could stumble away, they fell on her, crushing her to the floor.
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"Bloody hell," Ron gasped, holding onto Harry as they looked down at where the Malfoy chalet had been standing only moments earlier.
"You can say that again," Harry muttered, still shocked by events of the past ten minutes.
He and Ron had been busy searching the ground floor of the chalet when suddenly Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini and Theo Nott had appeared from nowhere and a fight had broken out. Quickly the fight had moved outdoors as Harry and Ron tried to draw the Death Eaters away from where Hermione was. Unfortunately, Draco wasn't easily fooled and leaving Blaise and Theo to deal with Harry and Ron, he'd gone back into the chalet to look for Hermione.
Harry wasn't even sure what had happened next, as one moment he and Ron had been fighting Theo and Blaise and the next moment an ominous rumbling sounded above them. Theo and Blaise seemed more alert and yelling about an avalanche they'd apparated to safety. Harry had grabbed Ron and done the same, which was how they'd ended up on a nearby ridge. A little way away, Harry could make out the figures of Blaise and Theo, also looking down at the chalet that had now been buried in the avalanche.
"What do we do, Harry?" Ron whispered.
"Get help," Harry answered as he spotted Blaise and Theo apparating away. "Hermione is in the chalet with Malfoy. We need to get back here before the dark."
"Let's go then," Ron said with a determined nod as he and Harry headed off to get help.
Neither Harry nor Ron wanted to think about the fact it had taken them a week to even find the chalet the first time, and since their map was in their backpacks, which were still in the chalet, any return would be blind. They just had to hope luck was on their side and they could find the chalet again before Blaise and Theo brought back some help. If they didn't, Hermione would end up in the hands of the dark and they both dreaded to think what would happen to her if that happened.