DISCLAIMER:I DO NOT OWN THESE
CHARACTERS, I HAVE MERELY TAKEN THEM INTO MY OWN WORLD. ALSO, THE
IDEA OF GOING 'COLD' IS CREDITED TO AUTHOR ANNE BISHOP. THANKS TO
BOTH OF THESE BRILLANT WOMEN, I HAVE FOUND A STORY THAT SATISFIES MY
EXPECTATIONS...I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT AS WELL!
Chapter 1-Danger
Pain exploded behind her skull as she fought with all of her self-control not to go cold. Sweat glistened and dripped silently, unnoticed, down her taunt frame. The Gryffindor Common Room was stifling. The voices around her became a deafening roar. She grabbed her cloak out of habit and headed for the lake. She would not hurt the people around her. She could handle this on her own (she had so far in her life); she was 'tough,' she could withstand the pain. No one close to her understood, well maybe with the exception of Draco. The Dark Lord's and The Order of the Phoenix's newest spy. He really did take after his 'Uncle Severus.'
She hurried to her favorite cliff overlooking the water. Shivering, even though the September air was warm and muggy, she sat down as she fought to keep her anger hot trying to recall her meditation methods, struggling to not go beyond the thin layer dividing anger and ruthless, emotionless violence. The last time she had gone cold, it hadn't been pretty, by any means.
FLASHBACK
It was the last few weeks of summer before sixth year; Hermione was excited. Her parents were actually letting her go to Diagon Alley by herself! Granted, it was only for a few minutes and Tonks was escorting her, she was still going by 'herself.' She kissed her parents goodbye and hugged them before grabbing Tonks' hand. Her parents should be safe enough without an escort for five minutes, Hermione thought as Tonks apparated them to Diagon Alley. After all, Dumbledore had given his permission.
It took a little over five minutes, but they didn't think anything of it. Tonks grabbed Hermione's hand and they apparated back to Hermione's house. What? Heat, flames, smoke, ashes, debris; it looked like a wasteland. "Tonks, are you sure this is the right pl-" she broke off suddenly as she noticed two charred and severed hands joined together with her parents' wedding bands glistening in the sun.
"Oh my gosh," Tonks whispered, but Hermione already felt the anger rising. She was far beyond the point of retaining the ability to hear any words that her friend uttered. She was focused on the scene before her.
What had her parents ever done to deserve this? Nothing. They had just happened to have a daughter that was one of the smartest witches of the age and who's best friend ended up being The-Boy-Who-Lived. They were muggles, innocent muggles. She almost snapped out at Tonks when Tonks grabbed her hand and pulled her to hide behind what used to be a car. Who knew that things burning would make such a deafening sound? Still over the noise, Hermione heard voices.
"Let's make sure that Mudblood bitch is dead before we leave…you know what the consequences we will face if the Dark Lord thinks we botched this."
There were seven of them, in full Death Eater robes complete with the half-silver, half-black masks covering all of their face with the exception of their mouths. The voice that spoke sounded vaguely familiar and with that, Hermione rose from behind the car, her hand slipped from Tonks. The fires around them suddenly blinked out, a cold wind picked up, and clouds rolled over the sun.
Hermione's anger and grief were frozen. She raised her hands toward the sky and stepped closer to her family's attackers. They were sending curses her way, she noticed dispassionately. She lifted her right hand and the curses also froze.
Tonks was dumbstruck and had not moved. She hadn't known Hermione had the ability to wandless magic, let alone of that magnitude. She simply couldn't believe what she was witnessing. She tried to move, but in vain. A spell obviously held her rooted to her hiding spot.
A voice broke the stunned silence. "May you know the pain I now and will always feel from this moment on!" Hermione flung the curses back to the casters. "CRUCIO!" she ordered and all the Death Eaters dropped in pain. They opened their mouths to scream; not a sound could be uttered. She had frozen their vocal cords as well.
Time ceased to have meaning; it could have been ages or only a moment that passed in that frozen pain. No one caught there could sense the flow of time. Tonks noticed that two of the seven Death Eaters had already gone mad from the sustained crucio Hermione had placed them under. Hermione…she was off to Tonks' left, her hair blowing with a breeze that no one else felt; blue flames danced around her and on her, but instead of being hot, they were cold. So very cold. Tonks felt her body begin to quiver slightly out of fear. Hermione absently waved her hand to cut off the curse and started toward the withering Death Eaters once more. Her hand opened to reveal a brilliant blue flame fueled by hate. An evil half-smile appeared on Hermione's face. Tonks shivered and snapped out of whatever spell had kept her captive. She ran toward Hermione, grabbed her hand, and took them both to Hogwarts. There was nothing left for Hermione in this place…her only remaining home was the school.
"NO!" Hermione screamed when she realized what Tonks was doing. When she saw the castle standing tall in front of her, Hermione realized what she had just done. She had cast an Unforgivable on multiple targets…without using a wand.
Tonks caught her as the anger drained from her and she was no longer able to stand unassisted. The last thing she remembered was Tonks', Draco's, and Snape's face floating above her. She could see their lips moving, but she wasn't able to register any of the words that accompanied them. She was in Draco's arms; he was carrying her inside.
END FLASHBACK
She rubbed her temples and sighed; none of the various healing charms or potions had been able to stop the incessant throbbing. She knew the dangers of allowing emotions to control her actions; she had seen the consequences first hand. Watching Professor Snape for the past seven years, along with the Legilimency and Occlumency lessons, had empowered her. Yet in one moment of grief, she had done what few outside of the ranks of Death Eaters and Aurors had ever attempted; she would not do that sort of thing while still on Hogwarts' grounds. She would wait until the right time to unleash it.
But still, she was just seventeen; no, she thought ruefully, nineteen, nearly twenty. Damn time turner, damn Ministry of Magic. It seemed to be harder for her these days to rein the anger back in. Perhaps it was the whole waiting game, neither Draco or Professor Snape knew of the Dark Lord's newest plans. Bullocks! Hermione was so tired of this whole war; part of her wished that the Final Battle would hurry up so everyone involved could go back to a somewhat normal life.
Bloody hell! It wasn't fair! Oh, she had learned a long time ago that life was almost never fair, but this war was pushing nature's need for balance in her mind. So many lives lost and no time to grieve; no time to be a child, especially not for the older students, at all the schools. This wasn't the first war for the adults involved and many lives been lost then without a proper grieving time. Wasn't one war a lifetime enough? Hadn't they paid their dues? They all deserved a long peaceful rest, but once again, no time could be spared. She resented the stupid reasons that countless innocents had been targeted; it seemed too much to take in. Wars were so much fun in that respect, weren't they? She rolled her eyes and shifted her weight guiltily.
Hermione knew that some of the blame laid on her. If she had only paid more attention at home, she would have realized the danger her parents were in. Thank God, for the Order's sake, she hadn't confided in her parents completely since her first year at Hogwarts. It had been found out that before they were killed, their minds had been ripped apart looking for useful information for Voldemort. Thank God that she had just apparated back to Diagon Alley to pick up a few potion ingredients on a whim. The explosion that had rocked her family's home had leveled all the homes within a two-block radius, but thank God, most of her neighbors were at work; but not nearly enough of them. She scowled. Apparently, the Dark Lord wasn't adverse to using a select few muggle devices.
He had been very disappointed to discover she wasn't home when it had happened. However, He was even more disappointed in the fact the his Death Eaters couldn't tell him how they had managed to fail killing her and why three of the group of seven he sent were more insane than the Longbottoms (Neville's parents). He had been very angry with them. She sneered evilly. That was another thing she could thank God for, but she wasn't sure if she would ever forgive Him for allowing her parents to suffer so much before death finally claimed them. Where did the sense of justice God was supposed to have disappear to? Why did so many innocents always have to die in wars? Why did God allow it? Fucking free will.
Everyone was convinced the reason she ran to the library so often was just to study. Hermione laughed softly, a touch of bitterness slipped through. She was so incredibly tired of only being referred to as 'one of the Golden Trio,' 'an insufferable/bossy know-it-all,' and especially despised the term 'mudblood.' She was still a teenage girl who had no time to grieve her parents, her neighbors, her friends. Was it any wonder that books were her only solace? On the other hand, it was good because she was able to research about her 'gift' in secret and to search for other possible weapons to use in the war. She scoffed and frowned. And of course, gave her and Draco time to send the wrong message to the Dark Lord. She smiled thoughtfully.
Draco had changed a lot since the day her parents had died. He had been visiting his 'Uncle Severus' when Tonks and Hermione had come to Hogwarts. He heard the stories that both Tonks and Hermione offered to Dumbledore and Snape; and he helped watch over Hermione while she was recovering. He decided then that if he took the Dark Mark, he would be able to become a spy for the Order. He confided in Hermione that he had been leaning in this direction since a conversation with 'Uncle Severus' in his fourth year. However, after seeing what had happened the her family and how it had affected her, he was finally pushed into it fully. Draco was intelligent, once you got past that superior attitude of his, and fun to be around. It was nice having a handsome young man who could be counted on to flirt, and who could lighten the mood at any meeting. Too bad he had an appointment with his father at Malfoy Manor today. She really could use his ear and insight.
She tucked her hair unconsciously behind her ears. Since the beginning of sixth year it was soft, sleek, and fell into beautiful ringlets around her face; Draco had helped her with it to uplift her spirits while she had still been recovering in the hospital. Wandless magic like that certainly took a lot of energy out of you. Her sigh penetrated the silence. She would never be able to escape her fate. She would be at the Final Battle; she was prepared to die and fully expected it. No one knew that she had already prepared her will and had all her assets and her parent's debts taken care of; they would be given to the Order to help rebuild the children's lives once the war was completely over. Hermione knew there would come a day when going cold would save those around her, those bounded to her by love of any kind. Until then it was her curse.
Not many knew how she had to combat against going cold daily. The short list included Dumbledore, she smiled slightly; she doubted you could put anything past that man. Her smile faded; she sensed a wrongness.
Silence. That wasn't right. Her anger abated; she instinctively pulled her wand out of her pocket, careful to keep her body position the same. Why weren't the birds singing or the crickets chirping? Something emerged from the shadows on her left, Hermione whipped around to face it, wand at the ready…
