Thunder and Rain
Chapter 1
The rain was unusually brutal today. Prof. Dumbledore stood by the open window and felt harsh droplets moistening his face. His usual lemon sherbet was replaced by a strong flask of firewhisky. Today wasn't expected. Not at all.
"What must we do, Dumbledore?" Prof McGonagall asked nervously. Hermione own glass completely empty by now.
He walked to his desk and sat down with a rare and defeated sigh. What they had found today was something no one could possibly imagine in their wildest dreams. It was beyond the creative capacity of even the best of minds. And yet, there they were - standing face to face with the unimagined. In all his years, he had always believed that every problem has some way out. The trick was to be able to either find or make that way. But this… this was beyond than just being a problem. It could change the course of events so drastically that there would no way to create any solution at all.
"I don't know, Minerva" he said in a hollow voice.
Prof. McGonagall looked at him shocked, a tear rolling down her cheek. She never thought she would hear that sentence from him.
Dumbledore closed his eyes and let the sound of rain fill the horror in the room.
Was this the start to their end? Could they really lose?
Platform 9 and 3/4 was filled with the chaos of students boarding the Hogwarts Express. But the chaos lacked its usual innocence and freedom. There was an evident tension in the air. Parents hugged their children for several minutes longer than usual. The younger students huddled together in groups. There were more station employees than ever seen before and they were trying their best to cheer up the first years.
Bidding farewell to a crying Mrs. Weasley, Harry, Ron and Hermione boarded the Hogwarts Express. They found an empty compartment and quickly shut the door.
"It's really depressing this year, isn't it?" said Ron. "What can we expect? Everyone is scared to send their children to Hogwarts. Especially after the ministry attacks." said Hermione tensely.
"And the mass killings. They're attacking kids now!"
"I should've just set out to hunt for Horcruxes" Harry finally said in a low voice. "I shouldn't be here at all" "No, Harry" interjected Hermione. "Dumbledore wouldn't have asked us to come to return if there wasn't a good reason for it." Harry looked away. Hermione sighed in defeat. "I have to meet the driver. I'll be right back" she said pinning a sleek Head Girl badge.
The past few months had been tough - very tough. Death eaters had managed to flee Azkaban, take over the minister, kill countless muggleborns on sight and shake the entire Wizarding world into a state of horror. No one felt safe stepping out because the Daily prophet reported events that were inconceivable. A Potions shop owner used the killing curse on a muggleborn wizard when the wizard asked for a discount. The radio cautioned all muggleborns and enemies of You-know-Who from traveling alone anywhere. The neighbors whispered about yet another story of tourists not returning from overseas vacations. It was horror in the truest sense. Harry and Ron had refused to let Hermione out of their sight. Mrs Weasley even tried to put a Tracking Spell on her but Ron thankfully stopped her before she could finish.
Her thoughts were halted when she suddenly bumped into a tall figure.
"I'm so sorry!" she quickly said, dusting her robes. She looked up to come face to face with Draco Malfoy. He didn't say anything but simply nodded. Her eyes travelled to the golden and green Head Boy badge pinned to his chest. Their eyes met trying to find any words to say. When neither could think of anything, they looked away and silently began to walk towards the driver's compartment.
"Didn't think you'd have the balls stepping on the train, mudblood!" a sharp voice rang from behind them.
She swiftly turned around to see Theodore Nott standing with two of his Slytherin side kicks. He held his wand ready on his side.
"How dare you wear that badge!" he snarled, his arm slowly beginning to rise. "You have no right to be amongst us, bitch"
Anger burst through her veins and her mind began to conjure the foulest spells she had ever studied. But before she could draw her wand, a voice behind her shocked both, her and Nott.
"If you touch her, I will kill you." Draco Malfoy said in a voice so hollow and empty that Nott took a step back almost instantly.
Hermione turned to look at the tall figure towering over her. He stood casually with his hands in pocket; his shoulders rolled back and relaxed. He hadn't even bothered to step ahead. But there was a very sublime sharpness to his aura as though any minute now he would pounce at his enemy. His eyes were marble like and unblinking. She started to get uneasy and looked at Nott who was visibly terrified by now. He seemed to fear even a wandless Malfoy. But what she didn't know, Nott knew. Draco could do wandless magic - better than most people with a wand.
"Leave" Draco whispered.
That was enough. They had disappeared in the next instant.
Hermione was flabbergasted. "What was that, Malfoy?" she asked at once. "Why was he so scared of you?" Her first question should've been why did you bother to defend me? but the whole encounter had been so weird that she just had to know.
"Nevermind, Granger" he looked down and stared at her again. The emptiness in his voice was gone and his eyes soften just a tiny bit.
Without giving her another second to say anything, he roughly grabbed her elbow and began to walk.
"Malfoy, what are you doing?" she muttered angrily
What was he doing, indeed? His brain dismissed that question.
He walked with ease as though strolling through the many corridors of the Malfoy Manor but the grip on her elbow was rough and firm. She struggled and complained for a little while longer but then gave up because it didn't seem to affect Malfoy at all and because… because a part of her felt strangely comforted.
After the brief meeting with the drivers, they head out to meet with the prefects from each house. Hermione did most of the talking while Draco sat beside her. He listened to her intently like the perfect team partner. It was unnerving - for everyone. They expected him to glare and scowl at them but his blank civility was even more frightening. When Hermione had finished explaining the prefect duties for the night, they scrambled out of the compartment without wasting time in pleasantries.
"What is going on, Malfoy?" she asked. They were sitting against the window opposite to each other. To anyone looking from the outside, the view would've been so romantic with the raindrops trickling the windows mischievously.
Malfoy turned to her. His face was lifeless and beautiful. The platinum blonde hair was finally short and neatly tucked away from his face without any gel. It looked natural and real. Her eyes locked with his again. She had always seen hate, repulsion and mockery. She could see nothing today. His eyes were blank and unreadable.
The train jolted to a halt. Draco swiftly got up and walked towards the aisle. Students had gathered around and were whispering to each other, visibly frightened. Hermione looked out the window to see the wind picking up speed. Droplets were crystalizing on the window and the lights in the train began flickering. There was loud beep-like a siren followed by an echoing voice, "All students please be seated. We will be resuming any minute now. There no reason to panic." The voice held no conviction. The lights flickered violently and they felt the train being jolted sideways; the wind beating loudly outside. Panic stricken screams and gasps filled the train.
"Listen up!" came Malfoy's loud voice. The students in the neighboring compartments stopped in their tracks and turned around towards him. He stood tall, with arms spread as if commanding them to follow his exact words.
"Everyone, back to your seats. Lock the door and keep your wands out. If you are a group of only 3rd years and below then regroup and sit with a prefect or someone older"
Students shuffled like arounds him and locked themselves in respective compartments.
Hermione quickly stepped out and began muttering an incantation. Blue light emerged from her wand and spread in both directions. At each door, a part of blue light wound itself around the knob.
"What are you doing, Granger?" he asked quickly. "Get back inside"
"This will make it harder to open or break the doors from outside" she mumbled. Waiting for more doors to close so she could secure the last ones too.
"You there!" Malfoy's said pointing at a frightening group of two small girls and one boy, who were still running to find seats. "Get inside" he commanded pointing his wand towards their compartment. The three first-years almost threw themselves inside and huddled together.
She had managed to send the blue light till both ends of the train and was about to mutter a second incantation when the light bulbs burst leaving them into complete darkness. There was a loud thud against the windows as if someone was trying to push the train over to one side.
"Enough, Granger" he said pulling her arm and shoving her inside. He was about to close the door without entering when Hermione quickly grabbed the front of his robes and pulled him towards herself. With a flick of a wand, she shut the door and was about to mutter the incantation but this time something outside banged against the train so violently that the train swiftly titled in that direction, balancing itself on one side of the wheels. Hermione fell backwards losing her wand and taking Draco with her. The train slowly began to tilt backwards and fell on the tracks with yet another loud bang. Draco quickly managed to get up and roughly pulled Hermione towards him. Without any hesitation, he wrapped one arm around her waist and the second one around her shoulders, bounding her to his body. The act was so unexpected that between the explosive sounds and rattling of the windows outside, her mind drifted to his hard body pressed against hers. Her forehead brushed against his neck sending electric jolts through her veins. Half her brain was calculating the danger ahead but the other half was filled with the smell that was Draco Malfoy.
There was a loud bang at their door. Someone was trying to enter. The three kids began to cry.
"Shhh.. shhh.. not a sound" Draco whispered carefully. Hermione looked up to see Draco boring holes into the door with his gaze. She knew then that he was trying to perform wandless magic. But suddenly the temperature of room dropped. She felt Draco stiffen against her. His eyes started to darken. Hermione shivered, not from the freezing temperature but from Draco's chest; he seemed to have lost all the normal warmth of a human body.
The door creeped open and without a second of delay, three Dementors flooded the compartment. Draco pushed Hermione behind him and positioned them in front of the three kids. There was a strange numbness in the room. Hermione and three kids could feel the happiness draining out of their bodies but for some reason they weren't completely being possessed in a way one would usually feel in the presence of the Dementor. Draco's body was somehow filtering the dark magic.
There was a roaring thunder and a flash of lightening which shed a hint of light on Draco's face. What Hermione saw, made her gut sink.
Draco's face has lost all color. His pupil and the skin around his eyes were pitch black. Green veins darkened on his neck and his body got colder with each second. It was almost as if he was sucking in the three dementors inside himself. But what really terrified her was that despite this, it looked like he wasn't in any kind of pain.
Bringing herself back to her senses, she picked up one of the girls' wand.
"Expecto Patronum" her voice barely able to say the words out loud.
"Expecto Patronum!" she screamed.
The end of the wand burst and a fully formed silver otter emerged circling the Dementors, driving them away. The otter's form turned into a white mist and dispersed through the window. With a another flick, Hermione shut the compartment door close and whispered the final incantation to seal it.
She could feel Draco collapsing over her and managed to support him just before he fell. The lights slowly flickered back on and the train began to move. The temperature of the room visibly became warmer.
Hermione turned to an unconscious Draco Malfoy. She placed one hand on his chest and other gingerly against his cheek.
"Malfoy" she nudged delicately.
The three kids came and sat opposite to her beside the boy who had protected them.
One of the girls, tried to shake his shoulder. "Please wake up" she cried, tears running down her face.
After a few long minutes, Hermione felt his heart beating strong under her palm. His breath deepened and his fingers began to move. Slowly, he opened his eyes.
"Malfoy" Hermione whispered, relieved.
He looked at her, his eyes stormy gray again and began to sit up.
"I'm fine." he said blankly, as though nothing had happened at all. He quietly sat by the window and turned his head away.
The young boy still had tears in his eyes. Hermione sat next to him and softly asked, "Hey, what's wrong?"
"I thought it was You-know-who."
"It's okay, now" she said affectionately. "They were Dementors and they're gone now"
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't cry, I know. I just thought I was going to die."
"It's okay to cry. You did very well."
The boy messily wiped his eyes with his hands. "My dad says, strong boys should never cry."
"What is your name?" she asked
"Ethan"
"Ethan, I've always thought that what makes you strong is fighting despite of being afraid."
A hand emerged in front of the boy, holding a clean white handkerchief with the initials D.M. Hermione was shocked to see Draco Malfoy indulging in an act of kindness. But expression on his face was so severe and stern that it scared the boy more than comforting him. Hermione took the handkerchief from Draco's hand and gave it to the boy.
"Here, you go." she said delicately. Malfoy had turned his face again. So much for kindness, she thought.
The rest of the journey was thankfully without any interruptions. No one stepped out of their compartments for the fear of another Dementor visit. Draco had closed his eyes and was either thinking deeply or sleeping. Either which ways, Hermione did not bother him. The kids went from crying, to finishing the bag of cookies that Hermione had given them to falling asleep.
The opening feast was solemn yet Dumbledore managed to comfort everyone with his opening speech wherein he also praised Draco and Hermione for their role in protecting the other students during the train ride. Finishing her Head Girl duties and saying goodbye to Harry, Ron and Ginny, she stepped into the Heads' Dormitory. The common was beautifully furnished with a giant fireplace. It was serene, cozy and peaceful.
Just as she was about to head to her room, a strong body ambushed her and she felt her back colliding against the wall. Malfoy had a iron grip on her arms as though wanting to crush her bones.
"Malfoy" she pleaded in a low voice. His pupils had darkened and he was looking at her with a lethal expression. He wasn't Malfoy anymore.
His breath was hot on her cheek. She could feel every part and every muscle of his tall, hard body. It made her shudder uncontrollably.
"Malfoy please" she whispered once again, her voice finally cracking. "You're hurting me"
His pupils turned gray again and suddenly his grip loosened. He let her go as abruptly as he had had held her.
He looked at her with anger, with contempt and with numbness. Without saying a single word, he turned around and casually went to his room.
Hermione stood there severely minutes, breathing heavily. She couldn't begin to comprehend what had just happened. Her last thought, before sleep overcame, was that she was truly scared of Draco Malfoy. It wasn't because he had become capable of actually hurting her. No. It was something else.
She was scared of him and she didn't know why.
Hiding from the storm
Hurting in inside
Craving your touch
Fearing your eyes
Next Chapter: More insight into past encounters of Draco with Hermione
AN: It would mean a great deal to me to know what you think. Please review.