Saturday, February 6, 2010

Unbidden Love Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven: The Undying Topic

Harry did not pause long to let Ron’s pronouncement sink in before he bolted from the room. Ron cast Hermione one terrified glance before he followed Harry down the stairs.

Hermione’s mind froze as she stared at the empty doorway of her room. Malfoy? Malfoy following her here?

She could not possibly imagine all the circumstances that could occur to make Draco Malfoy think it was safe or logical to wander carelessly onto the Weasleys’ territory. Ron and Harry were Aurors, after all…

After a moment’s hesitation, Hermione jumped from the window sill and took Harry and Ron’s path down the stairs to the front door. The Weasleys had not bothered to greet their rival at the doorway itself; they had instead all congregated several metres from the house to block Malfoy from venturing any further than the front yard.

Hermione regretted her delay in the bedroom as she tried to move around the tall men in front of her. She wanted to see Malfoy’s face herself; she wanted to be able to speak to him face-to-face!

Despite her lack of height compared to the males, no one seemed willing to let her in on the action. Ron, who was in the back of the group, grabbed Hermione’s arm as soon as he noticed her.

“Don’t you dare move an inch,” he hissed, his face the most serious Hermione had heard it in a long time. “Do you want that foul rat to grab you again?”

Hermione instantly slapped his hand away, but she remained where she was. “If you’re trying to be my hero, you’re a little too late!” she retorted. Ron’s eyes darkened, but Hermione ignored whatever emotion he’d acquired from her words. He needed to feel the pain that he’d brought upon her!

Draco’s voice rang in her ears then, as if he’d only just begun to speak. Hermione couldn’t see him through the mass of bodies protecting her, but his voice was so transparent she could easily imagine what his expression held.

“I wasn’t expecting such a warm gathering at my arrival! I admit I didn’t think any of you would wish to bestow thanks upon me for returning Hermione to you safely, but my schedule has thankfully opened up for a few minutes of worship and heart-felt gestures.”

“Cut the bullshit, Malfoy, we see through your twisted words as well as we did before,” Harry cried out. His voice traveled back to her from about the same distance as Malfoy’s had, so she guessed that Harry was at the front of the group, standing the closest to Malfoy. “How daft must you be to come alone and unguarded to a place full of your rivals? Is this a suicide mission or are you trying to play mind games with us again? You may have persuaded part of the Ministry that your intentions with the Death Eaters are innocuous, but we know the truth. We don’t know why you set Hermione free, but we know it was anything but innocent. You’d be wise to leave now if you don’t want to be caught in a fire of spells.”

Malfoy laughed cruelly, and this one action mocked them far worse than his next words. “So knowledgeable, aren’t you, Potter? You have me all figured out. If you know my true intentions, then why don’t you take the next step? I don’t wish to work my way through a queue of gits to get to her. You can make this visit short and sweet if you wish to.”

Silence. Hermione wished she could see Harry’s face, but she imagined him to be glaring Draco down as the Death Eater merely smirked self-righteously.

“Hermione, get in the house,” Ron muttered, grabbing her arm again and pushing her toward the Burrow.

“What? No, I want to…”

Go! Before he knows you’re…”

“I already know she’s back there, Weasley, you don’t have to act so gallantly,” Malfoy shouted back.

Hermione’s eyes widened with shock as Ron stared incredulously toward the direction of his voice.

“Come and get her, then!” Ron cried after a moment of stunned silence. He pushed Hermione behind him and pulled out his wand, though he was merely directing his wand at his father’s back. Malfoy was still hidden from view.

“Ron, don’t be so stupid!” Hermione hissed at him, struggling to push past him. She had never really noticed how muscular and strong he was until now when she had to try and break free from his grip. “Just let me talk to him, I’m sure he won’t hurt me!”

Now it was not just Ron that had positioned himself in front of Hermione. Mr. Weasley, George, Ginny, and Harry had formed a half-moon around her, Harry in the front and still directly in Draco’s face. All but Hermione had their wands out.

She heard Draco sigh loudly. “Do you lot always treat her like a child? Did any of you idiots notice that I am wandless and hence incapable of attacking any of you? For God’s sake, I simply wish to speak to Granger alone for a few minutes.”

Hermione’s confusion probably mirrored the expressions of her friends. So Draco Malfoy arrives at the Burrow wandless and alone simply to speak to Hermione like an old friend?

I don’t understand any of it, she thought hastily. Malfoy’s actions don’t seem to fit his character. Perhaps it’s someone else impersonating Malfoy?

Malfoy seemed to realize he wasn’t going to win easily, so he continued to speak his perceived logic of his actions. “Potter, listen to me for once in your life, stand here and be Granger’s personal guard as I chat with her further down the lawn. If you think I am going to harm her in any way, which would be rubbish anyway, you can zap into your hero mode and rescue the poor damsel before the villain scars her pretty face. Can I make this any easier than I already have?”

Harry apparently had made up his mind while Malfoy was speaking. “There’s no force on this Earth that will make me give you permission to even lock eyes with Hermione. Understood?”

Malfoy sighed again. “I was afraid it would have to come to this.”

Hermione held her breath as she waited for the inevitable blast to come from either Harry’s or Malfoy’s wand. But silence continued to reign, making the group increasingly nervous.

Finally Harry, the one with the best view, let out an audible gasp and cried, “Draco Malfoy, you lay one finger on…”

“That’s up to you, Potter. As I said, I am wandless so it would be in your best interest to obey me. Give me five minutes with Granger; that’s all I’m asking.”

An enraged growl rose from Harry’s throat. “Damn you, Malfoy, you arrogant sod! Can’t you just leave us alone for once? Can you not survive without causing distress to someone in this world?”

Hermione could almost hear Malfoy sneering. “Once again, your narrow-minded view stops you from believing I could be doing this for someone other than myself. But I don’t have time to discuss personal morals with you, Potter. I’ll give you ten seconds to decide…”

“Malfoy, give me my wand this instant!”

All gawked at Hermione as she instantly appeared at Harry’s side, a mere two feet from Malfoy. Her palm was open, her eyes sharp and narrowed, as she glared at her enemy. Draco had her wand between his hands, and he had apparently been threatening to break it if Harry didn’t follow his orders.

Harry’s face was pale as if she had risen from the dead. “Hermione, how did you…”

“It’s called Apparition, Harry, and it doesn’t have to occur from a far distance!” Hermione did not dare tear her gaze from Malfoy’s. Her wand was one of the few remaining wands left from Ollivander, and it would be impossible to replicate it if it was destroyed. “Malfoy, I’ll grant you the honour of a stroll through the field if you’ll give me back something which is rightfully mine!”

Draco smiled at her as if he were seeing her after a long separation. “Granger, how glad I am to see you clean and…”

Give me my wand or Harry will curse you to the ground!” she cried, her voice rising hysterically. She was through with his games; what gave him permission to act like this?

“As you wish,” he replied, flinging her wand in her direction. Harry caught it first, glaring daggers at Malfoy as he quickly passed it to Hermione. She let out a deep sigh of relief, relishing the feel of her wand between her fingers. How had she survived without it for that long? It was so much a part of her.

Hermione then turned to Harry, looking him in the eye desperately. “Harry, let me speak with this rat for a few minutes. I know we don’t owe him anything, but the quicker we oblige him the quicker he’ll go away.”

Harry closed his eyes and groaned, but he soon nodded his head in defeat. “Fine. But we’ll all be watching you, and if he makes one move…”

“I know, Harry, but I’ll be fine. I’m the one with the wand, after all.”

Without waiting for someone else to object, Hermione passed the invisible line separating Dumbledore’s followers from the sole Death Eater. She narrowed her eyes and studied Malfoy carefully, but seeing no other form of weapon upon his person, she said curtly, “This way.”

She saw Draco cast one last sneer at Harry before following Hermione away from the house and toward an old, broken fence outlining the dimensions of the sheep pen. She sat down carefully on the slivered wood before glancing up expectantly.

“So? What life-or-death situation brought you to your enemies’ front steps?”

Draco ignored her for a moment, focusing intently on a sheep grazing far off in the pasture. Finally, he turned to her and studied her almost as intently as she was studying him.

“Granger, was it ever explained to you why your interrogations stretched on for days?”

Hermione frowned, slightly startled by his question. She had not expected him to bring up her days in the prison, merely because she didn’t want to relive those days. Ever again.

“No, nothing much was explained to me as I starved to death in that puny cell. But I expected nothing better from such heartless fiends like your lot.”

Draco winced, but Hermione could tell it was an act. “That hurts, Granger; I thought you were unsure of my position among those ‘fiends.’ Has it ever crossed your conscious that I may be after my own purposes? That I don’t share the ambitions of those who truly stood at the side of the Dark Lord?”

“Harry was right; you do try too hard to play mind games with us. Can’t you just speak the truth for once? Usually it’s easier to trust people when you know that what they speak is fact.”

Draco studied her steadily, making Hermione uncomfortable. “How do you know I’m not speaking fact?”

She tore her gaze away, startled by the shiver that had run up her arms with the connection. Something about him unnerved her, as if the intenseness of his stare could push down the barriers in her mind and body. She had never experienced anything like it with any other boy…

“Please, Malfoy, just tell me what you’re here for. You’ve created enough tension among us for a good year.”

Malfoy snorted. “You’re easily spooked, all of you. A wandless lad strolls up to your house and you act like World War III is at your door!”

Hermione’s jaw clenched as her rage flared up. “Well, what can you expect when their best friend has just returned from holiday in a cold cell? And word has it you are the brains of the operation, Malfoy. Don’t I recall you being referred to as ‘Master’? Carrow doesn’t use that title for just anyone. No wonder no one trusts you to not act with hostility!”

Malfoy stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels, as if the conversation had made him restless. “If I tell you something, Granger, will you take me seriously?”

“Did you not just listen to a word I said?!” Hermione gasped.

“For your own good, will you listen to me?”

It was hard not to take him seriously, Hermione realized, with that look of desperation on his face. He seemed to be walking on nails, hesitant to speak yet knowing he must. Was this a different side of Draco Malfoy coming out or was he just a brilliant actor?
Hermione paused for as long as she felt safe to, picking at encrusted dirt on her trainer. She peered back up, hoping to find his expression back to that classic Draco-look of arrogance, but he still was staring at her with pleading eyes.

Finally she said, “Tell me, and I’ll consider whether it’s worth pondering over. “

Draco groaned. “You’re still a stubborn bookworm who thinks she’s been gifted with All-Knowing powers. Will it affect you when I say that what I’m about to present is information crucial to your survival?”

Hermione’s lips twitched into half a smile. “Now you’re sounding like Trelawney. ‘You shall meet your doom with the rising of the full moon’! How do you know anything about my survival?”

“How ironic, then, that I’m speaking to you on the evening of a full moon,” Draco gestured to the sky, where Hermione could barely glimpse the silhouette of a rounded moon in the darkening sky. “What do you know about werewolves, Hermione Granger?”

She narrowed her eyes at him, growing tired of the conversation with each passing second. “That subject is completely irrelevant, Malfoy, and you know it. Unless I am to be bitten by a werewolf tonight, I see no point to you forewarning me.”

“What if I told you that the werewolves are just another species after what you lot have hidden?”

This caught her attention. She guessed what he was after the second he spoke the word ‘hidden.’ “Don’t start on that again, Malfoy. You know very well that your minions have asked me again and again where ‘the weapon’ is hidden, and you also know that I hold absolutely no knowledge whatsoever about that. I believe you’re making it all up, trying to make the Neo-Death Eaters believe we have a weapon to finish you off. Soon enough, though, they all will realize that we’re as close to producing the Ultimate Destruction Weapon as your side is.”

A fierce howl broke the air, starling Hermione out of her thoughts. She almost fell off the fence as she instinctively twisted around to peer behind her at the empty pasture.

“What the…”

Malfoy hushed her instantly, staring fiercely out at the woods. His eyes darkened. “Damn,” he muttered.

“Malfoy, you’re becoming creepier by the second. That howl did not sound like an animal to me, so I’m guessing it’s one of your mates signaling to you to play ‘Tag’ in the woods. I suggest you follow him, for as far as I’m concerned this conversation – if you can even call it that – is over!”

She stalked away, but not before Malfoy grabbed her arm and gave her one of his piercing looks again. “Granger, if you’re lying to me, you’re only bringing death upon yourself. Trust me this once; I can help you.”

She twisted herself out of his grasp. “Even if I did trust you, Draco, I wouldn’t willingly ask for your help. I haven’t called you my enemy for years for nothing.”

Without meeting his eyes again (because that only weakened her), Hermione brushed him off and walked back toward Harry and Ron, who were expectantly waiting for her. She had only one wish in her mind then – that Draco Malfoy never sought her out again for the rest of her life.

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