Disclaimer: Don't own.
Chapter Five
'...' indicates thought
*...* indicates emphasis on a word
~*~*~*~*~*~
From last time:
Once they surfaced Hermione preformed a quick drying spell on everyone and the three started up towards the castle. In the distance they could see another figure headed for the castle as well from the direction of the lake.
"Thank God Malfoy got out safely," said Hermione, relief evident in her voice.
Harry and Ron nodded silently, both agreeing fully with Hermione.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The next day the Golden Trio was making their way to Charms when they heard yelling in the corridor ahead. The three broke into a run with their wands drawn. Before they reached the scene Malfoy came around the corner pocketing his wand.
He brushed right past the Gryffindors and headed down the hall they had just come from. Cautiously, the trio peered around the wall where all the yelling had come from.
Bodies of frozen Gryffindors rested in the corridor, all with their wands close by. Hermione started through them and muttered the counter curse. Neville Longbottom stood up shakily.
"Thanks Hermione."
"What happened?" asked Ron.
"We were all headed to classes and Malfoy comes out from behind the door and starts shooting at us. We tried to defend ourselves but he's really fast and dodged pretty well. I can't believe he got all eighteen of us."
"Eighteen?" asked Harry in disbelief. "There were eighteen of you and you couldn't hit him once?"
"Yep." The round faced boy gave a shrug of his shoulders. "Well, we'd better get to class."
It was then they all realized that they were the only ones in the now empty corridor. With yells and curses from Ron, the four of them tore down the hall for Charms.
They had just gotten into the class when the bell sounded throughout the school. Panting heavily, the Gryffindors made their way over to their desks and collapsed into the hard wooden chairs. Hermione glanced over at Malfoy and saw him staring dead ahead at the board.
For the entire class he ignored the three Gryffindors but made sure the rest had hell to pay. It seemed that he wasn't going to talk to the trio but he wanted to get back at others. He was probably worried they would tell everyone his secret if he hurt or picked on them.
That day they class was working on making items flash different colors. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were all working on a pair of black boots together. So far, Hermione was the only one who'd been able to do it. Harry couldn't even make it change color and for Ron it would only turn red.
"Maybe you should apologize to Malfoy, Ron," said Hermione as they both watched Harry have a go at the shoes.
"Yeah.... I should. I'll talk to him after class."
Harry couldn't seem to get the charm right at all. Why? Because his mind wasn't focused on class. It was what had happened before class even began. Malfoy had body binded eighteen well able bodied Gryffindors by himself. That was impossible... but then again, after what he'd seen last night, anything was possible.
He took his eyes off of the boots in front of him and watched as Malfoy transformed a gigantic black pillow to a pillow that changed diagonally down in rainbow striped with a silver sheen rippling across. "Show off," muttered Harry.
"What was that Harry?" asked Ron looking at his friend.
"Nothing Ron..."
A little while later the class started to pack up, all the items that had been successful going into a large box. There were lots of gasps of admiration for the rainbow pillow. Malfoy just smiled smugly and let all the Slytherins tell him how good he was. Hermione did notice though that Malfoy just accepted the praise but she could tell he didn't really care.
Once the bell rang the students left in bunches. Except for a lone Slytherin. He walked out the door and Ron cleared his throat nervously and stepped in front of him. "Hey.... uh Malfoy.."
"Get out of my way Weasley."
"I just wanted to say that... I'm uh... sorry about yesterday."
"I don't care for your apologies Weasley. The only thing that matters is you know something that you weren't supposed to. Now move." He shoved past Ron and disappeared up the stairs. Ron let out a sigh and went to go find his friends.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"So he didn't want to here you out?" asked Hermione as she bit into her salad.
"No, he just said the only thing that mattered was that I knew and then brushed past me."
It was now dinnertime at Hogwarts and all the students were enjoying the wonderful food that the house elves had made. Hermione still hadn't given up on S.P.E.W. but because she needed to eat, she had eased off a bit.
Another forkful of salad with crunchy lettuce and moist tomatoes was in its way to her mouth when her attention was brought to the figure leaving the Hall. Draco Malfoy had left dinner when it had just started. 'He must not be hungry,' she decided and went back to her salad.
But dinner soon turned quite boring. All around her was talk about quidditch. She stood up and whispered in Ron's ear that she was going out for a walk.
"Alright Love," he said and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Ron had confessed his feelings to her last night after the squid incident and he had been delighted to hear she felt the same way. They had announced they were dating and now the whole school basically knew. Then again, how could it not with Lavender and Parvarti telling everyone they met in the halls?
Hermione left the Hall and headed out towards the lake. She could hear a faint noise coming from ahead of her. When she got closer, she realized someone was crying. It sounded muffled, but it was definitely crying.
Cautiously, Hermione made her way over to the huddled figure. A soft gasp escaped her when she realized who it was. His blond hair was covering his eyes and his knees were pulled up to his chest with his arms wrapped around them. His head was buried in his knees and his shoulders shook with his sobs.
"M-Malfoy?" Hermione gingerly rested a hand on Draco's shoulder. He didn't even acknowledge her. "D-Draco?"
He picked his head off of his knees and looked right at her. Trails of tears that sparkled silver from the moon coated his cheeks.
"Oh Draco...." Hermione sat down on the grass next to him and put her hand on his knee. He looked a complete picture of misery. She wouldn't care if that annoying smirk came on to his face as long as he wasn't crying. It just wasn't natural.
She wished so desperately to just hug him and just tell him everything was all right... but it wasn't. Nothing was right at all. She wasn't even sure what he was crying about.... he'd seemed fine when he was casting spells on Gryffindors.
"Do you.... um.. want to talk about anything?" the girl asked softly.
Draco, who had gone back to looking at his knees, gave a slight shake of his head.
Hermione gave a small sigh and stayed sitting next to him, deciding she wouldn't let him leave her sight when he was feeling like this. She would stay here until he wanted to talk. She didn't care if they'd been enemies in the past, this was the present.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The two Gryffindor boys stood up from the table and with a good bye left the Great Hall with full stomachs.
"I'm stuffed Ron.... no more food," moaned Harry.
"I could still use a tad of that wonderful looking chocolate cake...."
"Oh no you don't," said Harry, grabbing Ron by his ear and turning him back around. "No more food!"
Ron gave a small groan of protest but let Harry drag him back to the Gryffindor Tower. "Do you think Mione will be up there? She left over half an hour ago."
"Probably. I least I hope so. I need help with my Potions essay; she already has all the answers."
In the Common Room the fire crackled, throwing shadows across the room on the blank wall. The armchairs looked plush and inviting yet no one was on them. The chessboard lay abandoned in the corner of the room and decks of exploding snap sat in neat piles on the table. No one was there.
"Hello?" called Ron. "Is anyone here?"
"I've never seen the Common Room empty like this before. Let's go find Hermione."
"Yeah...." Ron cast a nervous glance around the room and then followed Harry through the portrait hole out towards the grounds to locate their bushy haired friend.
Ron and Harry started for the lake where they knew Hermione would probably be. But when they got there they saw two people; Hermione and a boy that they couldn't distinguish.
"Harry, do you think Hermione's cheating in me?" whispered Ron.
"Nah. Let's go find out who it is."
The closer they got they began to hear the sound of soft crying.
Ron clenched his fists and growled. "If that guy is hurting Hermione in any way I'll kill him." He began to walk forward when Harry put out in arm to stop him.
"Mione isn't crying Ron....
~*~*~*~*~*~
*Hermione POV*
I don't know what had come over myself. I had just wrapped an arm around Malfoy's shoulders in a comfortable hug. And he had just started to cry again. I wasn't sure if it was because I had shown him kindness or if he just needed someone to cry on. His head was now buried in my shoulder and I could feel my robes getting wet.
After a few minutes of sobbing quietly he rose his eyes to meet my sparkling brown ones. "Thank you," he whispered, his voice hoarse from all the crying.
"Your welcome Draco," I whispered back. I wasn't really sure why we were whispering.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, my arm still wrapped around Draco. I gave a shiver as the wind picked up.
"Are you cold?" asked Draco.
"A bit..."
Draco undid his robe fastening and draped it over me.
"Thank you," I whispered, my voice full of gratitude.
"No problem."
I glanced at Draco. He was looking over the lake a worried expression on his pale face. "I don't know what to do."
"What?" I didn't catch what he'd said; I didn't think he'd talk.
"I don't know what to do about my father. And since... um I think you know everything I was wondering if you could help me...."
He sounded so unsure, almost timid.... nothing like his normally confident self.
"Of course I'll help you Draco."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do you want to help me? I've been nothing but mean to you."
"Everyone deserves a second chance."
"A.... second chance?" he asked uncertainly.
"Uh huh."
"Thank you," he said again.
Wow, two thank you's from Draco Malfoy in one night.... I was feeling pretty special.
"No problem."
He turned and gave me a small smile and I smiled back.
"Let's see..." I said musing aloud to myself. "Why don't you tell Dumbledore," I volunteered after a moments thought. "He'd understand."
Draco shook his head. "No... I can't do that."
"Why not?" I looked at him confused. Dumbledore sounded like a perfect option to me.
"If Father found out Mother would be punished. And I don't want to see her hurt..." He bowed his head and looked at his feet.
I brought my hand under his chin and forced him to look at me. His silver eyes were shimmering with unshed tears. "Draco... you getting hurt isn't good either. You could die!"
"I don't care. As long as Mother doesn't get hurt. I don't want to see her hurt anymore." His voice grew more emotional and tears started to stream down his face as he continued to talk. " I've told her she needs to leave and get away from him, but she refuses to leave me. It's all my fault!"
"Draco. Understand this. It's not your fault. It is your father's." I took my hand away from his chin and gave him a warm embrace. He stiffened at first, but then relaxed and put his head on my shoulder.
"But it's my fault," he said into my shoulder. "If I hadn't been a failure then he wouldn't be like this."
"You're not a failure Draco," I said gently. "Don't listen to your father. Look at him; he waits on someone hand and foot who doesn't even care if he dies. *You* made the right choice in defying the Dark Lord."
We sat there for a few more moments when I started to feel cold again. And Draco must be freezing; I had his robe as well as my own. Carefully, I took my hands away from him and stood up. "Come on." I held out my hand and he took it. After I pulled him to his feet I started towards my destination and he followed.
*End Hermione POV*
~*~*~*~*~*~
*Overall View*
"So that was Malfoy?"
"Yeah.... he seemed upset."
"I wonder what they were talking about...."
"I wonder where she's bringing him...."
"Should we follow them Harry?"
"No."
"W-what! Why not?"
"It's obvious he is comfortable around her, or at least getting to be. We shouldn't interfere..."
"But... but...."
"No buts Ron... let's go back to Gryffindor Tower."
Ron threw a glance over his shoulder at the two retreating figures. "Oh alright." With a sigh he followed his emerald eyed friend in the opposite direction of his girlfriend and Malfoy.
~*~*~*~*~*~
*Hermione POV* (Why did I ever bother changing it? *sigh*)
I was heading down the dark halls of Hogwarts, my footsteps echoing off the walls. Behind me came Draco but he made absolutely no sound at all. I once read a book on how Indians moved silently and I wonder if that's where he learned it. But if I was to ask he'd probably say it was a Malfoy trait with a smirk. Then again... he might not say that, as I could see he didn't really feel any honor for the Malfoy name. So I think I'll always call him Draco.
I had a set place of destination in mind. It was a place that had a nice homey feeling and would definitely warm us up.
"Where are we?" I turned to the almost puzzled looking Draco. He was surveying the hall with interest. "I've never been down here before...."
"It's a Gryffindor secret," I said. "Promise you won't tell?"
He nodded his head.
"Okay... watch." I went over to a large painting of a silver bowl full of fruit. I reached up and tickled a green pear. It gave a high pitched giggle and the picture swung open to reveal a passageway. "After you," I said with a laugh.
"Oh no. Ladies first." He went to the entrance and bowed. I laughed and stepped through the entrance and Draco entered behind me.
We came into a brightly lit room that was lighted from candles that hung suspended in the air. House elves ran around everywhere preparing the next days breakfast.
An excited squeal came from our left. "Master Draco! Mater Draco! You came to visit Dobby!" A house elf emerged from its fellows and wrapped itself tightly around Draco's legs. "Dobby is so glad to see you Master Draco! Dobby is so glad!"
Draco patted the house elf on his head. "It's nice to see you too Dobby."
Dobby burst into tears. "Master Draco says it is nice to see Dobby... Dobby feels so loved!" He hugged Draco one last time and then ran back into the midst of swarming house elves.
I smiled at Draco and pulling him by his shirtsleeve I led him over to a little table in the corner and made him sit down. A few seconds later Misu, another house elf, came over to the checkered covered table.
"Can Misu get you anything?"
"Could you bring us some hot chocolate and ask Dobby to come over here?"
"Right away Miss." The house elf ran off and Dobby returned a few minutes later with mugs of hot chocolate for the two students.
"Here you go Lady Hermione and Master Draco." Dobby set down the steaming mugs and settled himself on the stool that was next to the table. "Lady Hermione has not visited Dobby in a while. It is a pleasure to see Lady Hermione again."
"It's always a pleasure to see you Dobby." Dobby gave me a wide grin. "So what have you been up too while I was away?"
"The usual. Dobby really likes the hats Lady Hermione makes Dobby. Would you like to see Dobby's collection.”?
"Maybe later Dobby."
We finished their hot chocolate in complete silence and Dobby left to go help prepare breakfast.
The kitchen clock bonged loudly eleven times.
"Goodness!" I exclaimed, jumping up from my chair. "It's already eleven! We are going to be in so much trouble!"
"Don't worry," said Draco.
"Why should I not?" I asked frantically, waving my arms around in distress. "If we're caught we could both get detention! The only detention I ever got was in first year! This *can't* happen!"
"I said don't worry about it. Now follow me." Draco eased himself out of his chair and started towards the exit to the kitchens. We left and continued up a narrow corridor. About halfway up Draco stopped. "Slytherin secret ahead. Promise you won't tell?"
I nodded. I thought Gryffindors knew all the secret passages in the school. Guess I was wrong.
He withdrew his wand and tapped it on a stone with red flecks in it. "Akeru." The brick rose upwards pushing other stones out of its way until an opening in the wall was formed. He gestured at me to enter.
I was hesitant of course. It was dark and narrow and I didn't exactly want to, but I found myself trusting him. If someone had told me a week ago I'd be comforting and then listening to Draco Malfoy, I'd haven given them directions to the nearest psychiatrist. But everything was different now.
I walked in and could hear water dripping, kind of like a cave. "Lumos." At once the tunnel lit up and I could see that is was a stone passageway that seemed to never end. But after about a minute of walking we came to a dark burgundy colored door.
I tentatively pushed it open and gasped. Right down the hall, not even eight feet away was the portrait of the fat lady. In my own opinion, this must have been a Gryffindor passage and my house should be told. But I would be quiet and not ever let a soul know.
I turned around to face the passage and saw that it was know a gray stonewall just like before.
"If you want to open it from this side tap it and say Areku Mo."
I whirled around to see Malfoy leaning on the wall opposite the passage. "You'd better go to your common room," he said. "Wouldn't want to be caught, would you?"
"No. And you'd better go check on your injuries. You wouldn't want any of them to get infected."
"Will do." He turned and started off down the hall.
"Wait! Draco, don't forget what I said!" He continued down the hall. "Don't forget what I said," I whispered to myself, "don't forget."
~*~*~*~*~*~
No comments:
Post a Comment