“Hermione! Where have you been?!” Ron asked as he rushed to her with open arms. “What’s wrong? Have you been crying?”
Hermione looked down and let Ron bring her into a protective hug. She whispered, “I’m okay”, into his robes, but her unsteady voice said otherwise. Harry frowned and went over to pat her on the back.
“Hermione, maybe you should go sleep. Ron and I will take care of the business tonight,” he suggested.
“What are you going to do?”
“Watch Draco, of course. See where he goes at night,” Ron replied.
Hermione nodded, feeling that it was probably better that she not face Draco until tomorrow morning anyway. She trotted upstairs and shut the door quietly behind her. Harry and Ron watched worriedly.
“Maybe Gin could come then?” Harry asked hopefully.
Ron smiled confused. “I thought you two broke up?”
“Yeah. I feel like such a jerk,” Harry replied honestly. “It’s just really confusing, but I know how I feel now. I can think straighter when it comes down to girls. It was like a revelation over night! I was just so lonely when you and Gin went off on the family vacation, and Hermione hooked up with Draco out of all the other available men, and I got overprotective of my best friend, and you know, that can be bad, because then you get confused about love-like-a-friend and love-like-more-than-a-friend. And if you just followed that, you are one amazing listener. But anyway, I’ve come to accept Hermione and Draco. He’s not that bad of a guy after all. He’s kinda…”
“Um, okay Harry, I didn’t ask for a lecture,” Ron said jokingly, cutting Harry off.
Harry glared at him in a friendly way and smiled. “You get the point.”
Ron nodded. “But I still think Gin should stay here. Mum would skin me alive if anything happened to her.”
Harry let out a disappointed sigh, but agreed that he preferred Ron with skin.
**
Draco returned to the hospital wing one final time for his last dose of medicine. His finger had grown back perfectly, but he wasn’t happy at all. He remembered why his finger was missing in the first place, and thinking about her was just too much for him. He shook his head angrily and strode out of the hospital leaving a trail of steam behind him. Madam Pomfrey watched disapprovingly and sighed as she muttered, “Teenagers.”
Harry and Ron froze in their tracks as they saw Draco storm towards them. He didn’t look very friendly, and they didn’t want to know why.
“Where’s the Mudblood?” he spat as he neared them.
Ron’s face flashed with anger. “So you’re the one who made her cry.”
“She’s the one who was being such a b”“
“I wouldn’t finish that word if I were you Malfoy,” Ron warned as he took a step forward.
“Bite me Weasel,” he retorted.
“What the hell is up with you?!” Harry exclaimed, restraining Ron from jumping Draco.
“Why don’t you go ask your girlfriend.”
“Did you two break up?” Ron asked hopefully rude.
“What? She didn’t tell you the good news?” Draco returned sarcastically. “She better not be crawling back to me with some lame apology, cause it’s over.” He gave them one last glare, took a step, and disappeared.
“What the?” Ron whispered stunned as Malfoy vanished before his eyes.
Harry ran to where Draco had stood, but the ground seemed pretty solid to him. “How’d he do that?”
“I don’t know,” Ron replied. “We’d better go find out what Hermione knows.”
**
“What are you talking about?!” Hermione cried exasperated. “I didn’t say or do anything to him! He’s the one that was caught cheating.”
“No, he seemed pretty fired up about something that you did, Hermione.”
Hermione sighed. “Whatever. I don’t care anymore. If he wants to break up with me, it’ll just be taking a lot of stress off. I need to focus on my studies now anyway.”
“Hermione…”
“It’s okay, Harry.”
“There’s one more thing,” Ron added in.
“What?” Hermione asked impatiently.
“Draco…he apparated on school grounds.”
“They’re vortexes. The Death Eaters aren’t really apparating. Voldemort must have some sort of underground base, and he’s creating vortexes from there to transport his men in and out quickly. We’re going to have to figure out where they are if we even want to attempt to keep the school safe.”
Harry and Ron oooh-ed in understanding. “Well, the DA meeting is tomorrow, we’ll call forth the light maps and figure it out then.”
They were about to leave when Ron turned back around. “Hermione?”
She raised her eyebrows.
“I’m sorry about Draco.”
The shut the door behind them and left Hermione to herself.
His words hit her hard. She realized how much she had actually loved being with Draco. It wasn’t just the thrill of being together against all odds, but it was also true understanding of each other. She felt herself start to break down again and began crying herself to sleep.
**
Wednesday was kicked off with double Potions with none other than the Slytherins. Draco was already seated when the trio walked in, he didn’t even bother to look at them. Hermione thought about smacking him hard across the head, but held back in efforts of setting a good example for the rest of the class. She was so frustrated with him! He was the one that should be apologizing to her, but she’s the one feeling guilty. Professor Snape strode into the room wasting no time.
“Sit down, open your books to page seventy nine. Today we will be studying Hate Potions.” He paused and frowned as if he had just received a premonition of what was to come.
“This is by far the most complex potion we have studied so far. Potter! Tell me, what are the ingredients required for a successful Hate Potion?”
Harry squirmed in his chair and slightly tilted his head to read his book. “Mandrake root, Knoxgrass, rat spleen, scarab beetles, ginger roots, and two drops of the victim’s blood.”
Snape grimaced as he heard all the right ingredients.
“Very good Potter, I’m glad you excelled in your kindergarten reading class.”
The Slytherins snickered to themselves. “Alright,” Snape said to hush them, “Now who can tell me what makes a Hate Potion so dangerous?”
Hermione’s hand shot up into the air leaving no prisoners. Snape looked around the room and sighed disappointedly. “Ms. Granger?” he asked in a dull voice.
Hermione ignored his tone and answered enthusiastically, “Hate Potions are dangerous because if anything goes wrong during the creation process it becomes fatal to consume.”
Snape nodded his greasy head and turned around. “You heard what she said. If you mess up on this assignment, I assure you, you will never mess up on another again.”
Neville gulped and went pale, knowing that Snape was talking directly to him.
“I will be assigning your partners and positions to assure that no cheating and helping goes on,” he finished with a glare at Hermione.
“Potter, you’re with Goyle. Weasley, you’re with Crabbe. You four will work at the first and second stations.” The four of them groaned and dragged their belongings to the far corner of the room.
“Malfoy, you’re with Granger. Notis, you’re with Parvati. You four will work at the third and fourth stations.”
Professor Snape continued pairing off partners as Draco and Hermione reluctantly met at their workstation. Draco stared viciously at the wall with his arms crossed as Hermione approached. She didn’t say anything when she got there; what was there to say?
They unloaded their things, careful not to touch each other as they set up the equipment on the table. The silence was quickly broken as Hermione couldn’t keep her anger in anymore.
“You know what Draco? I am not going to stand here feeling bad about something you should be apologizing to me for,” Hermione shot at him, gesturing her words with her hand, which so conveniently held a peeling knife. Draco scoffed and returned to what he was doing, completely ignoring her.
Hermione huffed and threw down the knife. She took Draco’s right shoulder and gave it a hard shove, forcing him to look at her. “Don’t pretend you don’t hear me! Why should I suffer for this huh? I gave up A LOT to be with you Draco, you know that. And if you’re gonna break up with me, you better have a damn good reason,” she was practically screaming now. The whole class eagerly watched on with interest.
Draco sneered at her with disgust, obviously having something to say, but remained silent. Hermione kept her eyes locked on his, not accepting his response, or lack thereof.
“You gave up a lot to be with me?” Draco said at last in a very small voice. “YOU gave up a lot.” He laughed mockingly and shook his head. “Get this right Mudblood. I’m only saying it once. I put myself on the line for you. I gave you 110% of me, no less, and what did you give me? You cheated on me FIRST and you dumped me FIRST; honestly, what more do you want? My money? I never thought of you that way Granger, but if I’m going to pay for the times we had, I gotta say, I wasn’t satisfied.”
Hermione immediately slapped him across the face. The smack echoed through the cold silent dungeon. The both of them were in shock for a while. Draco remained completely still, his head seemed to be locked in the after-slap position. Professor Snape, his amusement having worn out, walked up to the two of them and announced,
“If you two don’t get this potion done by the end of the class, I will fail you both.” Then he turned to the rest of the class, “The same goes for everyone.” He strode away quietly as the top two students in Hogwarts quickly snapped back to reality.
Never meeting each other in the eye they prepared the Hate Potion individually.
“Time!” Snape shouted an hour later, jumping out of his chair to inspect the creations. “Today, we will test…Draco and Hermione’s. As punishment for your little outburst during class. Go on.” He waved his hand signaling them to continue.
Sighing loudly, Draco picked up his vial and handed it to Hermione, who did the same. In one gulp, both of the potions were downed. Ron held his breath until he was sure Hermione wouldn’t fall down cold and dead. It took two minutes for the potion to settle in. Draco was the first to react.
“Mudblood,” he growled. He took a step forward, but Harry immediately jumped in his way and pushed him back.
“Draco! Snap out of it!” he scolded.
“No, Harry, let him go,” she commanded. “Let’s see what he’s got. Big. Bad. Slytherin boy. Common, rush me,” she whispered as she tauntingly laid herself on the table.
Harry blinked wildly. Was Hermione mad at him or seducing him? It was hard to tell. Draco sneered and pushed Harry aside.
“I’ll show you what I’ve got,” he replied angrily, and just when he was about to make his move, the bell rang.
“Class dismissed,” Snape said in his usual lazy, nasal voice. He went to Draco and Hermione and forced down a vial of potion each.
“There. You should be back to normal now.”
Hermione immediately sat up on the table and straightened her clothes embarrassedly; Draco cleared his throat, picked up his things, and left before anything could be said. He walked quietly in the hall thinking of the events passed. Even when he hated her, he still loved her to some degree…maybe they hated each other so much that there could only be love left? He swallowed hard and leaned himself against the wall.
“Hey.”
He opened his left eye to see Hermione standing before him. The Hate Potion pretty much wiped out all of his emotional burdens so he didn’t glare at her for the first time that day. “Hey,” he replied quietly.
“Listen…” she began, nervously playing with her fingers. “I think there’s been some miscommunication going around lately, do you think we could talk?”
Draco raised an eyebrow and smirked. “You think we could just skip pass the talking, crying, hitting, and just go straight to the kissing?”
Hermione laughed and shook her head incredulously. “Dream on Malfoy,” she said as she walked away. Draco smiled and followed, tracing her every steps.
“You know you want to Granger,” he replied silkily.
Hermione grinned and turned around so that Draco saw her grinning. “Catch me and I’ll think about it!” Then she ran for her life. The air rushed past her face as her light hair flew back behind her. She laughed as she felt Draco catch up to her. He came from behind her and grabbed her by the waist, turning her around, they kissed. Hermione laughed and broke the kiss.
“Common Draco, you were supposed to chase me to Caelum!” she said as she took him by his green Slytherin tie and dragged him along with her.
“Caelum?” Draco asked interested. “Heaven?”
“Impressive,” Hermione replied. “You didn’t tell me you studied Latin.”
“Please Hermione, I’m much smarter than you think.” He grinned as she rolled her eyes. They continued walking until Draco recognized the hallway.
“Ahhh, Caelum,” he said, this time with much more enthusiasm. “I must say, it’s much better sounding than Room of Requirement.”
Hermione laughed and called forth the door. They tumbled inside, tripping over each other in an attempt to walk backwards, and resumed their kissing. Draco flipped Hermione over so he was on top and kicked the door shut moving only his lower body. Hermione clung onto him as he moved them onto a bed that materialized through his thoughts. She gasped as her back unexpectedly made contact with a soft silk texture. She opened her eyes and gave Draco a questioning glare. He grinned.
“Don’t worry, we’re not gonna do anything you’re not up to,” he assured her. She relaxed and pulled him back into her.
**
“Master, is it time?”
Voldemort slowly turned around to face Lucius Malfoy. “No. Not yet. Tomorrow.”
“But what if that’s too late”what if Snape already possesses Dumbledore’s”“
“I said…Tomorrow,” Voldemort replied impatiently.
Lucius bowed his head and pulled out of the room.
The Dark Lord stood for a while in silence, but quickly erupted into fits of angry shouts. He picked up a chair and broke it against the wall. He panted as he settled himself down. What was happening to him? Why wasn’t he able to control himself anymore? He sat down on the floor and cried for the first time in a century.
**
Draco sat up suddenly on the bed, feeling like he was hit by some unknown force. He looked down at Hermione who was sleeping soundly and didn’t notice him. Getting off the bed, he put on his shoes and outer robe. He felt something extremely intense burning inside his chest, but couldn’t tell what it was for he had never felt it before. He furrowed his eyes and walked out of the room. The pain didn’t seem to be temporary, it grew fiercer by the minute, and before he was at the Slytherin portrait hole, all he could think about was that need…that want for something…something…immortal.
**
Inside the secret chamber in Draco’s room, a little ball twitched slightly in its spot, then a light burst from inside it cracking the outer shell. The little baby squirmed on the little pedestal it was on and cried out like a Mandrake.
**
Hermione awoke to a shrilling cry, but once she stepped outside the sound disappeared. She looked around confused, then looked back at the bed realizing Draco’s absence.