Disclaimer: I do not own these characters
Warning: strong language ...you know the drill.
I am so addicted to writing now! Have just finished chap 7, I forget how behind I am on posting stuff on here. and i'm sorry despite my best efforts there was still errors, but oh well, you get the idea )! anyhoo without further ado here is chap4! Enjoy!
"…To complete these. Here you go," He said pushing all the parchments onto her. " My homework, coursework and I think a few other bits which I'll need you to do by tonight."
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, she thought he meant something else, but when she looked down and counted the scrolls in her arms, she almost hit the roof.
"Tonight?! Malfoy there must be about 6 pieces here, I'd be up all night." She said angrily.
"You've got till midnight!" He said beginning to walk to the door.
" But how will I find you at that time of night?" She said resentfully.
"Meet me in our potions room at midnight!" He said menacingly.
"But don't you need your beauty sleep? Why can't I just give it to you tomorrow?" She said trying to buy herself more time.
"Your wasting time. Midnight, or your find yourself expelled by the morning!" He threatened as he closed the door behind him.
"Bastard! It's Saturday tomorrow, he's just doing it to annoy me" She cursed.
ooooooo
Hermione had to skip dinner and went straight to the library to get out all the necessary books. She found that some pieces where quite short while others took an age. It was 11:45pm and she had just finished the last assignment, when she discovered a letter hidden behind the parchment. She hesitated, wondering whether she should read it. It was Malfoy's, he would probably kill her if he found out, but the temptation was irresistible.
It read:
Draco,Everything is in place, your weapon is ready I trust. Your wisdom is undeniable; with this, The Dark Lord will rule before your year is out. Until then, it's a waiting game! Nevertheless, I must stress the importance of finding the one you seek. The prophecy must be fulfilled, if you are to reach your full potential. You are already the most powerful, after The Dark Lord, but he will defeat you unless you find her! Son, fulfil the prophecy and you and I will rule this world.
L. Malfoy
Hermione almost fell off her chair; her necklace seemed to squirm with anxiety and fear. She couldn't think straight; her main thought was that she had to meet Malfoy in 10 minutes. She cursed herself for reading it, but what she now knew could really help The Order Of The Phoenix. What was this weapon? Could Malfoy really be that powerful, enough so to challenge Voldemort? What was this prophecy and who was that 'her' mentioned? By the time she escaped her panicking thoughts she realised that she had wondered her way to the Head Teachers office with the letter in her hand.
She stood outside for several minutes deeply contemplating whether she should go in and tell everything, but she couldn't help but be selfish and dread her own expulsion. Still standing there, she snapped out of her daze and realised it was about 2 minutes to midnight. She cursed, shoved the letter in her pocket along with the other parchments and ran down the back passages to the dungeons where her potions room was. She crept past Snape's office and hurriedly opened the classroom door.
She found herself in an empty room. Malfoy was not there, but as Hermione checked her watch and saw that it was barely 3 minutes past, she thought that he couldn't possibly have left.
She dumped the scrolls on the nearest desks and figured that she might as well leave. Just as her hand touched the door handle, her necklace released a sharp pain that surged through her, before she felt the air become dense and the already dim lights darken. But she needn't turn round, she knew exactly who was behind her.
" When I say 'meet me at midnight' I mean I want you to be here at midnight. Not one minute before nor one minute after and I especially didn't mean, 'dump the stuff and leave'!" Lectured the voice of Malfoy. Hermione's throat dried up and she could barely get out an answer.
"Sorry". She croaked. Her hands were now shaking as she felt herself lifting into the air and floating away from the door. She didn't bother struggling; she knew it would get her nowhere, so she just let herself glide towards the dark figure.
"Your rather obedient Granger, what happened to the sarcasm and wit?" He asked curiously.
" I guess it disappeared along with my pride and dignity." She said subdued, still floating before him. She was now eye level with him, he is so tall that she normally is always looking up, but now she didn't dare. Her eyes fell to the floor that lingered a small distance below her.
" So you've become just like all the rest. Mindless drones too scared to challenge me!" He said sounding rather disappointed.
In that instance something awoke in Hermione; something evocative. She felt a flame ignite as she remembered that she was far more powerful than anyone in this school and far more powerful than he knows. She realised than she actually had no reason to fear him. He wouldn't kill her, not according to the letter, he has to stay out of attention and killing her would only do the opposite.
Thinking this, she lifted her gaze from the floor to his burning silver eyes. She also knew exactly which buttons to press and how hard. He's just a little boy looking for some fun. He was forced to grow up too soon; he misses the innocence of childhood, where everything was just so simple, where there was no grey in the black and white world, where to have fun was the main objective of your existence.
For the first time since the day she met Malfoy, she actually pitied him. She thought about how hard his life has been, just as traumatic as Harry's, but with one difference – he was completely alone. Harry always had the support from his friends, but Malfoy; he had none.
Hermione had, had enough of floating in the air, so with a flick of her wand she was gracefully lowered to the floor where she looked up at Malfoy and said with a subtly playful tone:
"Bite me!"
Malfoy looked down at her in amazement and smirked. He was growing fond of their little arguments.
"That's more like it, Granger!" He said holding out his hand, "Come with me".
"Where? And what about the parchments?" She said slightly confused, refusing to take his hand.
" They're futile." He replied as the parchments instantaneously caught on fire.
"Hey! I spent hours on them!" She said rushing to put out the fire, but she found herself being stopped by Malfoy's strong grip round her wrist. She then had to watch the fruits of her labour, burning to ashes.
"What the hell did you make me do them for if you were just going to burn them? I had to miss dinner and break a dozen school rules just to come here to give them to you!" She shouted as he began to drag her out of the room. "Hey! Let go of me!"
"Expelled!" was his only reply and Hermione fell silent. She let her self be dragged out of the dungeons and through a secret passage before finally asking:
"Where are we going?"
"Outside." He answered
"Oh…and why is that?"
"You ask too many questions." He answered as he shifted his grip on Hermione's wrist. Hermione's skin tingled again, just like when he first grabbed her wrist. She didn't know why he had such an effect on her whenever he touched her, but she didn't like feeling so helpless and vulnerable from such a simple thing.
"You don't have to drag me, Malfoy, I am quite capable of walking on my own." She said quickly as she felt the yearning feeling grow. She was beginning to be afraid of her own feelings.
Malfoy stopped. The dim candlelight in the tight corridor flickered between them. Visibility was so poor that when he eventually turned round, Hermione could barely see his stunning eyes. There was an awkward silence, as Malfoy seemed to just stare blankly at her, still holding her wrist. After a while, he spoke but it was laboured, as though he was holding back.
"Very well." He said slowly.
Hermione felt him release her wrist reluctantly and she felt her necklace sink with disappointment. They carried on walking, Malfoy was several paces ahead and the gap was growing. It was incredibly dark, but Hermione knew not to use magic for fear of being discovered. A minute later and she had lost Malfoy completely. She began to panic, she lost track of where they were because she had never been in this back passage before. The darkness seemed to consume her, like it was an actual being. Layer upon layer of shadow built up to cover her, the candlelight disappeared and she couldn't even see her own hands. Her necklace vibrated with fear as what seemed like hours passed by in total darkness.
She reached out in front of her, trying desperately to feel her way along the walls and out of this passage, but the walls had disappeared. She called out for Malfoy, but she heard no reply. She thought she would never get out as the dark also infiltrated her mind. She fell to her knees, not daring to move, she could see, hear or feel anything. She felt so alone. She was petrified and on the brink of tears, she called to Nucashi to help her but just as soon as she did, she felt herself being lifted out of the gloom.
She looked up and saw Malfoy's pale face staring down at her. She had never been so please to see him, to see anything.
"So you're quite capable of walking on your own, I see!" He said sarcastically, but Hermione didn't care. "Keep up this time." He added before turning and walking away. Fear struck Hermione like lightning through a tree, when she saw him leaving. She ran after him and grabbed his hand in hers. She didn't want the darkness to consume her again so she wrapped her other hand round his arm as extra security. She felt him react to her contact, but he did not pull away like she thought he might.
They were out of the passageway in a matter of minutes and Malfoy felt Hermione's tense body relax, but she did not let go of his hand. They were now outside, the star fill sky and the ghostly full moon flooded the school grounds with light. Hermione stared at the stars and began to stray from Malfoy. She let go of his arm and spread out to enjoy the gentle breeze that played across the vast space that was…
"The Quiditch Stadium?" Escaped Hermione's lips.
"Yeah, watch this." Draco smirked retrieving his wand and with one wave the side of the stadium exploded.
"What are you doing?" She shouted in surprise, "We're going to be in so much trouble!"
"Relax, try it. It's a good stress reliever." He said calmly.
"I am not stressed!" She shouted as Malfoy shot her a disbelieving look. "Ok fine I am, but that's just because you're destroying the Stadium! Someone's bound to see or hear!"
"It's fine, there's silencing and blinding spells and as long as I fix it after it, doesn't matter." He said exploding another section.
"…How many times have you done this?" she asked astounded.
"Every Friday at midnight since the 6th year." He said destroying one of the towers.
"Oh…is that why the Griffindor seat are so hard and full of splinters? And why the Slytherin stands have proper chairs with cushions?" She said accusingly.
" They are? I never noticed" He replied, clearly lying. Hermione laughed.
After watching him for a while she thought that if he's going to fix it, what not have a go? Therefore, with one fluid motion she brought the entire Slytherin stands to ruins. Malfoy stopped in mid spell to stare open-mouthed at Hermione.
"What?" She asked innocently.
He only smirked and pulled her inside the Stadium. They stood right in the middle of the green and looked round at all they had left to destroy.
"Watch this then." He said challengingly.
He conjured a massive ball of flames and unleashed it at the Griffindor stands, which blew up with the biggest explosion yet. The very ground shook beneath their feet as the dark cloud of smoke dispersed into the atmosphere. Malfoy looked very pleased with himself.
"Yeah, you've got the power, but what about skill?" Hermione teased, as she conjured the same huge ball of flames, which she released into the air. It was spinning rapidly as it circled around the stadium, leaving a trail of fire in it's wake, before finally shooting through the highest scoring hoop and plummeting to the ground, causing just an explosion just as large.
"Let's see you top that Malfoy!" She provoked. Malfoy actually looked impressed, he never imagined that the small, elegant girl beside him could wield so much power and skill.
"Call me Draco and I'll show you what I can really do!"
Thanks for reading, Please review. Also, many thanks to all you who have reviewed!!!
