New chapter! ;) Enjoy! And excuse the language, please. :P

DISCLAIMER: The Harry Potter world does not lie in my possession, I only own this plot.


Chapter 4: Shock.

Eyes.

Eyes everywhere…

Watching her…

Blood pounded in Hermione's ears. Her palms were damp with sweat. Her heart was slamming against her chest in pure, uncontrolled fear. She stared around her, shivering.

"W-who are you?" she gasped out.

"Why, darling," leered a face, coming out of the shadows, staring right at her. Her racing heart shot to her throat."I think you know me very well."

"Th-Theo?"

He merely laughed – a cruel sound. Hermione's eyes widened.

"Theo, s- stop it," she said, shakily. "You're scaring me!" She backed into the tree – only to discover it wasn't a tree. It was a lean chest. She gasped again and whipped around, to see – Malfoy, staring at her with a disgusted sneer she hadn't seen in a few years now.

"What are you looking at, Mudblood?" He shoved her, and she fell, collapsing down at his and Theo's feet –helpless.

"N-no…" she croaked.

"Yes," hissed Theo, aiming at her side with a hard kick. She groaned and curled away, tears stinging her eyes. Her heart cracked.

Theo leaned down to her, and she stared up at him, a pathetic plea in her brown eyes. "Th-Theo…"

He merely smirked, and lifted his wand – but not at her – he pointed it elsewhere, and she looked up, only to meet Ron's weary eyes.

"Ron!" Hermione cried, but a moment later, and he dropped dead, right next to her. She stared, anguished, at his body.

Theo tsked at her – mocking her – and that was when she saw the pile of bodies lying across the clearing, and Hermione gasped, tears trickling out of her eyes.

Dead. Lifeless eyes staring at her. Neville. Luna. Professor McGonagall. Molly Weasley. And some other old students she'd gone to school with – Hermione's heart constricted tightly –

She wished she couldn't feel.

Her parents.

Tears flowed freely.

She met Theo's eyes again. "Why?" she whispered.

He smirked again, and his face screamed of cruelty.

There was laughter, and then –

"Avada Kedavra!"

Hermione sat up with a jolt, her chest heaving and her body covered in sweat. She clutched her face with her shaking hands, gasping. A wet, salty tear slipped onto her dry, chapped lips, and she brushed it away. Her breath heaved and she shook again, a sob snatching hold of her for a while, before she swallowed it down, hard. She took her hands down from her face and blinked, slowly taking in her surroundings.

She was on a bed.

She was in a bedroom.

She was in a bedroom that looked very much more masculine than feminine.

She was in a house she had never been in before in her life.

She was panicking.

Then she realized – she'd been attacked by a stranger. She grimaced, and suddenly she became aware that her body was aching, and one of her legs were burning a little. She groaned.

She glanced around, her heart pounding, searching for any clue that she could find out whose house exactly this was – and then she saw it, when she looked down the side of the bed.

A note. A little crumpled, and lying there on the floor, as if for her. Hermione gingerly reached down, wincing, and picked it up.

She gasped.

Dear Granger,

You are currently in one of my safe houses. You don't have to worry; no one except those I trust can enter. I've healed all of your injuries. I'll be back soon.

Drink the potion on the bedside table. Don't worry, it isn't poisoned. It'll ease your aches and pains.

See you soon,

Theodore Nott.

The note fluttered out of her grip, and down the side of the bed, onto the floor. She was still gaping at it. What luck she had! Apparently Theo was probably late in doing his Death Eater rounds and had come across her.

A giddy feeling came up in her chest. She knew she was acting like a teenager right now; but she hadn't spoken to the love of her life for years, surely she could act as she wanted for a little while. She could trust him – right? She pushed the nightmare to the back of her mind.

She looked at the small bottle of Theo's potion on the table next to her and picked it up, gazing down into it before swallowing it up. Immediately, from her head right down to the tips of her toes, her pains and aches seemed to go.

Hermione carefully picked herself off the bed, clutching the bedpost tight. Gingerly, she stood, her legs wobbly and her knees trembling a little – and, she was ready to let the bedpost go –

… until a crack! sounded, and she gasped, toppling over – not before hearing a confused sound of surprise – and crashed to the floor. Blinding pain shot up her broken leg and she groaned, blinking tears away from her eyes.

"Fuck, Granger, what are you doing here?"

MALFOY? What was he doing here?!

Gentle-yet-rough hands scooped her up and Malfoy set her back on the bed. Hermione looked up into his gray eyes, and was taken aback by the sheer strength of the anger in his eyes.

He glared at her. "Did you hear what I said? Granger, what the bloody hell are you doing here?"

She scowled up at him and rubbed her aching leg. "I just woke up, Malfoy, there's no need for such coarse language."

"Whatever," he snapped. "You didn't answer my damned question!"

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "I was ambushed and attacked, and Theodore found me and brought me here."

Malfoy sneered at her. "And where were you, exactly?" His anger seemed heighten. His silver, mercurial orbs flashed. He loomed over her, putting his face up close to her, and forcing her to lay back to avoid the close proximity of their bodies. He didn't seem to notice, and there was a strange glint in his eyes that she couldn't identify.

"The Order are fucking out of their minds with worry! What the hell were you thinking? Were you OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?" he roared at her, and she flinched. He tossed his hands up. "YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN KILLED! FUCKING KILLED, GRANGER!"

Hermione pushed at his chest, but he didn't even budge. She glowered at him. "I was thinking, Malfoy-"

"Oh, you were thinking!" he said sarcastically. Malfoy took her wrists in his hands, stopping her futile attempts to put space between them, and pushed her hands on the either sides of her head.

"What happened to that fucking Gryffindor selflessness, Granger? Didn't you realize what the Order would be without you?" His fingers pressed into her wrists, almost painfully. "Nothing, Granger. Nothing. And the Dark Lord would win this battle we're already almost losing." Hermione opened her mouth to speak, her heart racing madly, but Malfoy shook his head and snapped, "I'm fucking talking, Granger. Do you realize what danger you're putting Theo in right now? He's sheltering you, an Order member, in his home, instead of throwing you to the Dark Lord – he could get killed for doing this, Granger. And what would Daphne do without him?"

Hermione blinked. "What has Daphne to do with Theo?" She couldn't stop the slight pang of jealousy in her heart.

"They're engaged," Malfoy snapped, and her heart dropped down to her feet. Hermione bit her lip.

"You weren't thinking, Granger, admit it," he said, staring down at her, anger still glimmering in his eyes. "So tell me, what exactly were you thinking, venturing out?"

She glared up at him, refusing to answer; instead she twisted from side to side, trying to release his firm grip on her.

The act seemed to only infuriate him further.

"Fuck it all, Granger!" he snarled. "Tell me! Why?"

Pain thudded at her heart, and she bit her lip, shaking her head, not wanting to tell him. To her dismay, she felt tears welling up in her eyes – and when they did, Malfoy abruptly released his grip on her.

She couldn't look at him – why had her eyes chosen to shed tears at this moment?

Why?

She hated it.

Another crack! of Apparition sounded, and, her heart skipping a beat, Hermione looked up to gaze at the set of deep blue eyes that haunted her dreams every night, every day, and every moment.


A/N: How was this chappie? :3 It's kinda short… Isn't it? *sighs* I'm kinda sleepy. My eyes are drooping. *yawn* Anyway…

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