Disclaimer: In a perfect world, I'd be the one with the gorgeous castle in Scotland, millions of dollars, and be the one of the most beloved authors of the current times. Alas, I am not. Therefore, everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling. No money is being made out of this (the only payment I ask for, which is far better than money, is reviews!!!!) I am merely borrowing her characters, and blatantly twisting them to my own devices, as all us fanfic writers love to do. I promise I'll bring them back not too disheveled, except for Draco, I'm not responsible for what happens to him when I'm alone with him, grins evilly .
Summary: Hermione loves Ron and he loves her. But what happens when she unknowingly drinks a love potion and falls for Draco, who really falls in love with her? And one of the characters learns something about his/her past which changes his/her life drastically. Can the Gryffindor trio survive this and unite against an ever-rising Voldemort? A tale of angst, courage, cursed lives, sacrifices, but most of all, unrequited love.
A/N: In my story Harry and the gang are in their seventh year, but when I started writing this story it was before the fifth book came out, so if there are any contradictions to what happens in the fifth and sixth books, I apologize. Most should be pretty minor, but if you find any that are especially annoying, let me know and I'll try to change them. The only exception would be everything regarding Dumbledore that happened in the sixth book. I am afraid that I need to keep that OC part in my story, because Dumbledore plays an important role in this fic.
Chapter One: Dangerous Flight
The stars were certainly beautiful that night. They glinted, half hidden by the feathery gray clouds which had a stormy translucence as the moonlight shone through them. A cool breeze lightly scented with evergreen trees wafted through the open window, ruffling Hermione's curls, whispering to her, beckoning her.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, concentrating every particle of her being on what she was about to do. If anyone had been watching her in her room that night, they would have seen a witch one moment, and then after a cloud of sparkling dust, gorgeous blue feathers shimmering in the candlelight. Hermione Granger had become the first Animagus to turn into a phoenix. The mere fact that she had the courage to become an unregistered Animagus at all surprised her at first. But with all the ominous warnings of Voldemort's uprising, she believed that it would be best if she could turn into an animal and sneak out of the castle to gather information. And it would be best if no one knew about it, not even the boys. Even Ron would disapprove of her becoming a spy. For months she read every possible written text on the subject. Then when she finally attained enough concentration to transform her entire body, she was even more astonished to find out she had turned into a phoenix. Although she obviously couldn't live through fire, (at least she wasn't brave enough to test it), she was quite intelligent, very loyal and was able to take on huge burdens onto herself, whether it was schoolwork or her secret pledge to protect Harry and Ron and everything she loved from Voldemort. These were all characteristic of a phoenix. Of course her plans as a spy were somewhat hindered, as a phoenix is quite a noticeable creature, so she contented herself with wandering in the Forest sometimes, communicating with centaurs and unicorns. They didn't disappoint her, though. Eventually the creatures sensed she wasn't wholly phoenix, but they respected her all the same and told her about their increasing feelings of foreboding. But besides that, she loved flying through the Forest at night, feeling independent and even slightly rebellious; sometimes she needed to get away from her world of rules and obedience and books. Actually feeling the magic run through her veins was a million times better than merely reading about it.
She perched herself against the window, her claws scraping the wooden frame. And she simply let herself go, surrendering to the air. Soon she was soaring through the trees. As she silently flapped her wings, she was reminded of the first time she flew. The feeling of pure, unadulterated exhilaration and freedom filled her soul. She felt the wind caressing her whole body, as she felt lighter than the feathers covering it. She understood why Harry loved Quidditch so much. Flight seemed to have that amazing affect of awakening every nerve of the body, as if she had never felt properly alive before.
That evening, while the rest of his house was asleep, Draco Malfoy stood outside his dormitory window. The cool evening breeze was playing with the platinum tips of his hair, giving a pink tinge to his face, pale and still as porcelain. His mind was too preoccupied to gaze at the stars, though. The time was coming: he could see the signs everywhere. Muggle attacks, high-profile wizards and witches acting unusually (the handiwork of the Imperius Curse, no doubt), and right after his receiving that bloody letter from his father that morning, he heard about the break-in at Azkaban. Even though he hadn't won yet, Voldemort was sure as hell trying. And worst of all, he finally tried to get his daughter and judging from the rumors he was hearing, she really did have amazing powers. Even though this worried him, it didn't surprise him. His father had been informing him that the Dark Lord was planning something "more terrible than ever before" this year. That meant that the time was coming when he, Draco, would have to 'prove' himself. He would finally have to outwardly say whether or not he was on the Dark Side, so his Death Eater initiations would begin. He internally cringed at the thought.
Draco hadn't fully made up his mind to be a Death-Eater, though. The idea of spending his life constantly in fear and danger, doing unspeakable things to people, only to grovel to someone else while they only gained in power didn't really appeal to him. But he had to give some sort of answer to the letter he had received that day. He moved to his desk and took out a sheet of his stationary, dipped his long, black quill into an ink bottle, and wrote:
Father,
I feel slightly insulted that you even doubted that I wouldn't be up to this. It would be a great honor -and pleasure- to aid in the plan. No doubt you know about Azkaban. As for Potter, I have come up with a plan to take care of him. It is so brilliant, it might even surprise you. I will hit him where it hurts most. Do not worry about the family honor, trust me.
D.M.
Draco gave a faint, yet long whistle and soon his eagle owl flew to the window. He tied the letter to its foot and sent him away, but he stayed at the windowsill. He liked the silence of the night and the clear air. It was good for thinking.
He would have his work cut out for him, though. He hadn't worked out his plan fully yet, but he thought saying it would impress his father. Suddenly he felt a ripple of disdain. His father…he was so involved with the family honor, he didn't realize he was degrading it. His father's servility to Voldemort was disgusting. On top of that, his job of torturing others was the most cowardly one. It involved no intelligence or danger, just mindless cruelty needed from someone with no emotions. Nobody actually respected his father or his family. They either hated them or feared them, or both. But Draco wanted to change all that…
He continued to stare out the window and he saw a strange figure fluttering from the castle toward the Forbidden Forest. It looked like it came from the window next to him. He only knew too well whose window that was. He had been declared Head Boy that year, and Hermione Granger was Head Girl. He thoroughly enjoyed finally having his own room at school, even at the expense of sleeping in a room adjacent to one containing a Mudblood. At least it didn't leak here as it tended to do in the dungeons. Every year the Slytherins would complain about it, every year it was supposed to be "fixed," only to start leaking even worse after a few weeks. He mused that it must have been a private joke of Dumbledore's to indirectly get back at the Slytherins.
When he saw a strange figure flying out the window, he leaned out to get a better view, keen on finding something suspicious on Granger. Whatever it was, it was far too big to be an owl, and it didn't just fly away into the distance as if it was delivering a message; it flew straight into the forest.
He knew someone had been in her room; he had heard the window open. A grin began spreading across his face. Maybe he'd surprise her with a little visit right at the time when she was doing something suspicious.
He locked his door, and took a few steps in the hallway to hers. He knocked a few times and casually stood there with his hands in his pockets, grinning wickedly. A few seconds passed, but no answer. He knocked again. Nothing. He was losing his patience, and thought maybe his surprise should be more of a nasty shock; he pulled out his wand and said, "Alohomora!"
The door opened, but the room was completely empty. He walked inside and examined it a bit. Everything was quite neat, as wasn't surprising, except for the huge stacks of endless books on and around her desk. Everything was normal, except there was nobody; and he was positive he heard noises of books being dropped and he heard her window open minutes before. Then something dawned on him. Could she have somehow turned herself into that flying animal? She was definitely not allowed to do something like that. This was getting interesting; perhaps some more spying was in order. It was a good thing he had a secret passageway in his room that led straight into the Forbidden Forest.
Harry woke up, yelling with pain. His head was throbbing like never before. The whirling blurry images he saw of the room without his glasses added to his confusion. He blindly reached out for his glasses, and put them on, the pain not subsiding. He saw Ron's worried face seemingly out of nowhere.
"What's wrong, mate? Is your scar hurting?" he asked. Harry could hear Neville's and Seamus's voices, too. But all he could feel, all he could see was pain, and somehow… Hermione. He grabbed his forehead and moaned.
"It's never hurt like this before," he gasped, "only if I'm steps away from Voldemort."
"My God, Harry, you don't think…"
"Hermione," was all Harry could say to interrupt Ron. All he remembered from his dream, although it was quite vivid, was Hermione in her room, right before the pain took over.
Ron somehow felt that she was in grave danger.
"Harry, can you come with me and check on her?" But he couldn't even answer; his eyes were screwed up in pain. Ron continued, "Alright, you blokes stay here with him, I'm going to check on her," he said.
"Are you crazy? Filch will see you and hang you by your toes!" Seamus cried.
"And Ron, what if…what if Harry's right, and you do meet…him!" Neville cried, even more terrified than any of them.
"If Harry's right, then I there's no chance in bloody hell I'm not going," Ron had utter determination in his voice.
"Nah, Harry, he's just using your suffering to have a late-night rendezvous with Hermione so he can snog her all night," Seamus said, batting his eyes and clenching his hands together, looking falsely romantic.
"I'm glad you guys find the fact that I'm in so much pain so hilarious," Harry grumbled through his clenched hands over his face.
"Shut up, you great prat," Ron said to Seamus, "I'm going to see if she's alright. If she is, then I'll snog her," he said, smiling. " Besides, Filch wouldn't catch me in a million years."
"Why not?" Neville asked.
"Because, I have my ways," Ron smiled. He grabbed Harry's robes from his bed, which conveniently held the Invisibility cloak, and went out the door.
A/N: gasp! Why is Harry having pains in his scar? What's out in the Forbidden Forest And what happens when Draco follows Hermione there? Don't we all love unexpected meetings in the dark? (wink-wink). I hope u guys liked this first chapter. If u did, review!!! I've already written a lot of the scenes of these first few chapters, so expect updates pretty frequently (hopefully), and they'll be faster if I see a lot of people r eager to read this story.
Meanwhile, don't forget to review. All those who do will get emails whenever I update, and lots of schnoogles (hugs and kisses!!) I also personally respond to all questions and comments of my reviewers.