A/N I'm so so sorry! I was in the middle of a transatlantic move, so my writing has been very very scarce of late. I promise, delays this long will not happen again. Please review; I feel like this chapter was a little off; let me know!
Disclaimer: JKR's, not mine.
Chapter 6
Discord
Hermione swore that she could kill Ron in that instant. How dare he? Since when was he so overprotective? She didn't understand what had come over him; and to think, she had thought that she loved him… She rolled her eyes at the thought, trying instead to look on the bright side. After cooling down and talking to Harry about what had happened, Hermione had gathered that the locket had been destroyed. Her eyes raked over the sword of Godric Gryffindor that was just lying in her room. Harry had asked her to look at it for any signs of enchantment, but Hermione didn't bother, knowing that the reason it had worked was because Harry had drenched it in Basilisk's blood.
Hermione pulled herself off her reclining position on her bed and moved over to her chair. She sat down and pulled out one of her many notebooks. She opened to a page marked with a red ribbon and crossed out "locket." She looked at the list which was written in her messy scrawl. The list still read "cup", "Ravenclaw" and "snake". Hermione felt a sense of pleasure when she crossed off the third item, but as she looked down the list, her feeling of despair returned. How were they possibly going to get to the last three when it had taken them so long to find just one? At least now we have the sword, she thought.
Hermione was interrupted by her thoughts by a loud bang. She turned to find Draco at the door. It had been three days since Ron had found them asleep in the parlour, and ever since, Draco had seemed more distant. He had closed up again, and Hermione was finding it increasingly difficult to talk with him. It would probably be best if I could get him to talk to Ron and Harry more, she thought whilst biting her lip.
"Don't you ever knock?" she asked, as she always did when Draco entered her room. "There's a reason I keep my door closed…"
Draco shrugged. "What are you doing?" he inquired, politely as always. Hermione sometimes wondered how he could bang open a door and then ask a perfectly civil question. A small smile appeared on her face.
"Nothing of importance, why?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to have another go at chess, seeing as we haven't for a few days."
"And you can't find anything to do," Hermione added with humour.
"Of course I can," Draco said indignantly. "I'll just leave then, if you're busy…" he trailed off, heading back through the door.
Hermione let out a laugh before calling him back and agreeing to play a few rounds with him. She could swear she could see relief on his features. Hermione wondered what he did up in the attic, all alone, so she asked him as they made their way down to the parlour.
"I usually look around the house, actually," Draco said to Hermione's surprise. "I probably know it better than you do now," he said, gently nudging her shoulder. Hermione let out a laugh again. "I noticed Gryffindor's sword in your room," he said quietly. Hermione immediately sobered. "I take it the locket has been destroyed."
"Indeed," Hermione responded, though she was barely paying him any heed. She couldn't get rid of the prick of guilt she felt at betraying Harry's secret to Draco. Even though she knew that he had the right to know, she still felt as though some sort of privacy was being trespassed on. "Do you think I should tell Harry that you know?" she asked quickly.
"No! Of course not, why would you do that?" Draco asked.
"It just seems wrong to lie to him," Hermione said. "And that way he and Ron might not decide that they've got to go out on their own again," she muttered.
Draco shrugged. "If you feel you must, go ahead."
"I shall," Hermione mused out loud. "But first, we can have a few rounds of chess."
"You WHAT?" Ron fairly bellowed upon hearing the news.
"You heard me, Ron," Hermione said, raising an eyebrow at him. She had expected him to over-react.
"No, Hermione, seriously, I cannot believe you! How could you tell him our only secret?"
"Ron, honestly, calm down," Hermione said dismissively. Apparently, Ron could not bring himself to calm down.
"I won't calm down," he snapped, pushing himself up and out of his chair. "And I won't shut up, and I won't listen to you anymore!" he cried.
"Ron, now you're just sounding like a child—"
"No. In fact," Ron paused as he struggled to find the words. "I'm leaving unless you wipe his mind clear of what you told him."
"Ron, surely you can't be serious," Hermione started, laughing. Her eyes hardened as he looked at her. "I won't. I can't ensure that only those memories will be erased, and, above all, I trust him, Ron, which is something you could try to do!"
"I'm dead serious. I'm walking out that door unless you do it."
Hermione and Ron stared at each other, apparently unaware that both Draco and Harry were in the room. The loud silence lasted much too long for anyone's liking; five minutes passed, then ten.
Ron shuffled his feet abruptly and headed towards the door. "Ron, you can't do this!" Hermione cried out, though her words sounded shrill to her ears.
Ron turned his face towards her. "Watch me," he snarled. He tapped his wand on his head and left, slamming the door behind him. Hermione stared at the door for a minute before running at it and thrusting it open.
"Ron, come back!" she screamed. The tears had not started yet. "Ron, I'm sorry, please, come back!" She had completely forgotten about the Death Eaters that were waiting just outside the door. A strong arm pulled her back inside and slammed the door shut before a skeletal hand could reach the door knob.
The tears started. Hermione started to shudder in the person's arms. She turned around and came face to face with Harry. "Harry, he left," she whispered. She said it again and again, like a spell until the tears made her words blur into one long string of nothing. She could have sworn she saw a tear escape Harry's eye.
She didn't know how much time had passed, and she didn't care. She opened the door again, calling out Ron's name to the wind. And to the Death Eaters. This time, the Death Eater got close enough to touch her face before the hand pulled her back inside. She could still smell the Death Eaters' breath on her face. She had seen his vicious smile.
"No, NO!" she cried as she thrashed in Harry's arms. "You have to let me go get him!" She couldn't bear it, the thought of him fighting Death Eaters on his own.
"Hermione, where would you go?" Harry whispered, trying to calm her. She had become almost hysterical within a matter of minutes. Hermione couldn't bear it and Harry's arms were so tight! She kicked his leg sharply and he let out a cry of pain and his arms loosened. Hermione made a bolt for the door a third time.
"Hermione, you're not going to open that door again." Hermione looked up expecting to see Harry. The blond hair and grey eyes seemed out of place.
"No, Draco, move."
"Think about this rationally!"
"I don't want to!" Hermione made to push him away, but before she could, she felt a sharp pressure form all about her, and as much as she tried, the only thing she could move was her head.
"Stop it, Hermione. You're better than he is."
"I don't bloody care," Hermione intoned, but her voice had changed drastically. Instead of hysteria, her voice had a hint of steel behind it. "You will not cast spells on me, Malfoy. Ron was right, he always was. I should have left you to rot in Azkaban."
The tone of Hermione's voice was enough to scare Malfoy into removing the spell. Hermione turned on her heel and stormed up the stairs, leaving two shocked wizards in her wake.
Draco was trying to keep his thoughts to a minimum as he headed towards Hermione's room. He didn't want to think about what he'd just done; casting a spell on her? Why couldn't he just talk to her?
But I was only trying to make her see reason! I was only trying to prevent her from getting killed! a small voice protested in Draco's mind. But Draco knew something was wrong. He had crossed an invisible line, and he wasn't sure if Hermione would let him back on the other side. At least, not immediately. He couldn't say he blamed her either.
He started having second thoughts as soon as he turned the door knob. He should've just left at that moment, but for some reason, he felt like there was an invisible force pulling him inside.
"Hermione," he blurted out as soon as he entered the room. Hermione turned to face him and Draco was surprised with what he saw. It wasn't her clothes; she was wearing her everyday robes, it wasn't even her hair. Draco couldn't put his finger on it, but something had changed. And, for some reason, it made him shiver.
"Draco," Hermione said gently. Too gently; he had just cast a freezing spell on her after all. Draco had expected her to scream at least. "You don't have to apologize," she said, crossing the room to stand directly in front of him. "You did what you had to." Hermione looked down at the floor.
"But—"
Hermione gently placed a finger on his lips, effectively silencing him. "You don't need to say anything," she whispered. She moved closer to Draco until he could feel her breath on his face. Draco found himself overwhelmed by a desire to cross the few millimetres between the divide and kiss her. Just complete the picture; he felt as if it would make everything right. Everything he'd ever done wrong. He leaned in slowly, but he didn't dare close his eyes in case Hermione moved away.
She didn't. She stood there unmoving until his lips finally touched hers. Just as they did, Draco felt Hermione's lips moving under his. She was saying something. "I'm not who you think I am," she murmured before pressing her lips against his. Draco's eyes opened wide as his mind started to understand what she was saying. But it was too late. He had fallen to temptation and his arm found its way around Hermione's slender waist, his free hand found its way into her tangled hair. She pulled him closer and Draco finally closed his eyes, not caring what happened, because this felt so right, so good. This couldn't possibly be wrong.
But then something happened. Draco felt Hermione's body start to twist under his. He heard a playful laugh, and then a hiss. He wanted to let go of her, but found that he couldn't. He was stuck to her, and she was changing. Starting to get frightened, he opened his eyes and found that Hermione wasn't Hermione any more. She was turning green, and her body was coiling around his almost like… Almost like a snake…
Draco awoke screaming, not sure if what he had just seen was a dream or not. He forced his open and sat up in bed, looking around, panicked. It was a dream, just a dream… he thought, trying to calm himself. It was all too real; it all felt too lucid. Hermione being a snake, and he didn't even want to know what the kiss meant.
He yanked his blanket to one side of the bed, threw on a shirt and stomped down to Hermione's room. He wanted her to get mad, he wanted her to be real.
"Hermione!" he bellowed, slamming open her door. He was silently thankful that Harry slept downstairs so he couldn't hear what Draco was doing. Draco stormed into her room. He heard her before he saw her.
"Get out of my room." The iron in her voice proved it; it was her, it was Hermione, it was the girl who had preserved his sanity. Draco was now regretting the fact that he hadn't fully thought out his plan. He didn't want to get hexed, but he had a feeling that he was about to be—
As he wrapped his arm around her waist, it felt so small, so fragile… Her hair smelled musky, like she'd spent too much time in the library… The kiss was wrong, he knew it was, but in some perverse part of his brain, he enjoyed it. Enjoyed it much more than he should've… She was turning into a snake and it pained him; Malfoy's didn't trust many people… He wanted to make sure she wasn't the Horcrux…
"I'm not the Horcrux!" Hermione yelled, drawing out of his mind. "Bloody hell, Malfoy, you have some nerve coming into my room after you just cast a freezing spell on me!" She went up to him and was about to hit him when she saw his mouth opened wide.
"Let me explain," he said quickly. Hermione lowered her arm a few millimetres. "I needed to make sure you were angry, because you're yourself when you're angry. You… forget things when you're irate."
"How do you know?" Draco looked at her for a moment and found he couldn't answer. He remembered her at Hogwarts. The time she slapped him after he had insulted Hagrid. Her reaction was not so different from his…
"Listen, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Hermione, I never would have froze you—"
"Getting bossed about up by the boyfriend I don't even have yet, is that it?" Hermione asked snarkily. Her comment, as meaningless as it should've been, felt like a physical blow in the chest to Draco.
"I only wanted to get you angry so you would stay…" Draco whispered. He sounded wimpy, even to his own ears.
"He's left because of you. Because of you, someone I loved left!"
"Someone you loved?" Draco couldn't help from scoffing.
"Don't worry, Malfoy, I wouldn't expect you to understand," Hermione bit back, her face livid. "And I don't need to explain myself. Get out of my room."
"No, Hermione, please—"
"Get out."
"Hermione, be logical—"
"GET OUT OF MY ROOM! OUT, MALFOY!" Hermione screeched, her eyes almost glowing with anger.
Draco looked at Hermione coolly for a moment before exiting her room.
A/N No sparks for a while yet, I'm afraid. They still need to resolve this issue. I don't believe I've mentioned this before, but don't expect any romance at any point in the near future; it'll take a little bit of time. Well actually, a lot. Thanks to all my faithful reviewers who haven't left me through this three month gap! Review, please! Bisous ~ the shattered star
