Chapter Seven- Cursed

A/N: Hello all! Wow, it's strange to think this was posted only a week ago- it feels like forever! School can do that to you… Which reminds me: Art homework. Thursday. Draw fruit. Must do.

Disclaimer: Some of this chapter has contact from Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince, chapter Twelve, pages 232-236. All of this was written by the wonderful J.K. Rowling, and I do not claim to own it. It just seemed easier than using the movie script or writing my own version… I can get really lazy sometimes (as shown since I started this chapter on Monday…)


"Curiosity, n. An objectionable quality of the female mind. The desire to know whether or not awoman is cursed with curiosity is one of the most active and insatiable passions of the masuline soul." ~Ambrose Bierce


For the next few days, Hermione and Malfoy where very busy. Malfoy was combing the spiritual reference book on Hermione's instruction, and going to classes. After his first Potions lesson, he obtained Polyjuice potion (though he neglected to tell Hermione how_ and used to change Crabbe and Goyle into girls. The two dumb bodyguards would then stand outside the Room of Requirement, while Malfoy went inside to join Hermione. Inside, they would hunt for the Vanishing Cabinet that Malfoy's mother had told him about. The room was extremely large and filled with junk, so it would take them quite a while to find it. After they found it, of course, they would come to the task of fixing the Vanishing Cabinet, since facts pointed to it probably being broken.

"Granger, I'm not turning this weekend." Malfoy said as they searched the room. "Just thought you ought to know."

"Not… what?" Hermione turned to him, aghast. "Why ever not?"

"I don't know if you've noticed Granger, but every day I'm working on this. I deserve this weekend off." Malfoy reasoned. "Besides, it's Hogsmeade this weekend."

"Hogsmeade? I remember going to Hogsmeade…" Hermione sighed, and narrowed her eyes when Malfoy murmured about her sounding like an old Granny. She picked up the nearest thing to her, which happened to be a knotted wooden bowl, and threw it at him. Malfoy yelped when it collided with his back, and he turned and glared at her. "Just be glad I can't do magic now."

"You know, you're awfully wound up today, Granger." Draco commented offhandedly, rubbing his back and going back to his work. "Perhaps you should take a weekend off too, go glare at Snape for a few more hours."

"I… How do you know about that?" Hermione gasped, floating around to look at him.

"Granger, I have classes with him. Every lesson you're behind him, staring daggers at him. If looks could kill…" He peered behind a large bevelled mirror. "It's pretty distracting, actually. Quite puts me off my work."

"You say that like I care what N.E.W.T's you get." Hermione snorted.

"Well, you should at least take the weekend off. Merlin knows I could use a break from your ugly face." Hermione almost throttled him, but stopped herself, reminding herself that she needed him to help her find her body.

"Then it's agreed." Hermione said loftily. "We will not speak, or deliberately seek each other out until Monday."

"Deal."

For around half an hour they searched before Hermione grew bored, leaned against an object that was covered in a light cloth… and fell through it with a yelp. After looking around inside for a few moments, the emerged.

"Messing around Granger? Not like you, is it?" Malfoy snorted. His amused smirk irritated her immensely.

"Malfoy…" Hermione began, and pulled back the cloth with a flourish, to reveal a large cabinet. "I believe I've found your Vanishing Cabinet."

"Okay. We'll begin working on it on Monday evening."


Hermione floated into the Three Broomsticks, looking for her friends. She'd gotten off to a late start and had spent hours trying to catch up for them. Of course, they won't be able to see me, Hermione thought bitterly, but she was willing to try. Even so, their company was just what she needed. She smiled as she saw them both sat down with Butterbeer. Harry had a furious expression on his face that Harry normally would never have, and Ron was busy staring at Rosmerta, as he always did. Hermione sat next to them, on an empty chair, enjoying their company, though the air around them seemed frosty. As soon as Harry had finished his cup of Butterbeer, he turned to Ron.

"Shall we call it a day and go back to school, then?" He asked Ron, who agreed.

"It isn't much fun without Hermione anyways." Ron grumbled, and Hermione felt her heart tug. How she wished she could hug him, tell him how much she missed him, and that she was right there beside him! The two followed Katie Bell, and her friend, closely followed by the now moping Hermione. None of the Golden Trio thought of the two ahead of them, each wrapped in their own problems, until they all seemed to simultaneously notice that the two were having an argument.

"It's nothing to do with you, Leanne!" Katie was yelling, as they all rounded a corner. Leanne, the girl Katie was with, made a lunge for the package Katie was carrying, almost playfully. Katie quickly tugged back, making the package fall to the ground, and that was when all hell broke loose.

Katie rose into the air gracefully, her arms outstretched as though she where about to take off and fly. Yet there was something wrong, something eerie… her hair was whipped around by the fierce wind, but her eyes were closed and her face was quite empty of expression. Harry, Ron, and Leanne halted in their tracks, watching. Hermione gingerly floated up to meet Katie, poking her and asking, "Katie? Are you okay?"

Suddenly, Katie let out a terrible scream, which caused Hermione to jump back. Her eyes flew open but whatever she could see, or whatever she was feeling, was causing her terrible anguish. She screamed and screamed; Leanne started to scream too, and sized Katie's ankles, trying to tug her back to the ground. Ron and Harry rushed forwards to help, but even as they grabbed Katie's legs, she fell on top of them; Harry and Ron managed to catch her but she was writing so much they could hardly hold her. Instead they lowered her to the ground where she thrashed and screamed, apparently unable to recognise any of them.

"Stay there!" Harry shouted at the other two he saw near him. "I'm going for help!" And he sprinted off to get help. Leanne and Ron tried to quieten Katie's harsh shrieks, Hermione just floating there behind them, not knowing quite what to do.

"Get back!" Came a gruff voice- Hagrid's- suddenly, and Harry appeared with the half-giant. "Lemme see her!"

"Something's happened to her!" Leanne sobbed, "I don't know what-" Hagrid stared at Katie for a second, then, without a word, bent down, scooped her into his hands and ran off towards the castle with her. Within seconds, Katie's piercing screams had died away and the only sound was the roar of the wind.

"Leanne, what happened?" Harry asked quickly.

"It was when the package tore," sobbed Leanne, pointing at the now sodden brown-paper package on the ground, which had split open to reveal a greenish glitter. Ron bent down, his hand outstretched, but Harry seized his arm and pulled him back.

"Don't touch it!" He crouched down. An ornate opal necklace was visible, poking out of the paper. "I've seen it before," said Harry, staring at the thing. "It was on display in Borgin and Burkes ages ago. The label said it was cursed. Katie must have touched it." He looked up at Leanne, who had started to shake uncontrollably. "How did Katie get hold of this?"

"Well, that's why we were arguing. She came back from the bathroom in the Three Broomsticks holding it, said it was a surprise for somebody at Hogwarts and she had to deliver it. She looked all funny when she said it… oh no, oh no, I bet she'd been Imperiused, and I didn't realise!"

Leanne shook with renewed sobs. Hermione floated over to her quickly and patted her shoulder comfortingly. Leanne shivered.

"Did she say who gave it to her?" Harry asked suspiciously, and Hermione glared at him, even though she knew he couldn't see her. Leanne was worried for her friend, and Harry was interrogating her?!

"No… she wouldn't tell me… and I said she was being stupid and not to take it up to school, but she just wouldn't listen and… and then I tried to grab it from her… and- and-" Leanne let out a wail of despair, and Hermione glared at Harry once more.

"… Let's get back up to the castle… y'know, find out about Katie…" Ron mumbled awkwardly. Harry hesitated for a moment, then pulled his scarf from around his face and, ignoring Ron's gasp, carefully covered the necklace in it and picked it up.

"We'll need to show this to Madame Pomfrey," he said.

As Hermione followed the trio up the road, Harry seemed deep in thought, and Hermione wondered what he was thinking. They had just entered the grounds when he spoke, unable to keep his thoughts to himself any longer.

"Malfoy knows about this necklace. It was in a case at Borgin and Burkes four years ago, I saw him having a good look at it while I was hiding from him and his dad. This is what he was buying that day when we followed him! He remembered it and he went back for it!" Hermione's eyes widened. Harry… He'd been harping on about Malfoy all year… but… Malfoy had been unusually eager to go to Hogsmeade this weekend, when he could have been getting an early start on the Vanishing Cabinet… He had been owling people back and fore, when he thought Hermione wasn't around… He'd seemed so occupied when he wasn't in the Room of Requirement… Could Harry be finally right?


"Malfoy!" Draco internally cringed at the high-pitched shriek. He checked nobody else was in the corridor before turning. "I thought we weren't talking until Monday?" He snapped to the infernal ghost that constantly haunted him.

"That was until you cursed Katie Bell."

"Wha- cursed Bell?" Draco raised his eyebrows.

"You heard me! You put her under the Imperius curse so that she would deliver a cursed necklace to Professor Dumbledore!" Granger yelled, and began to search for something to hit him with, as she did when she got angry with him.

"I didn't curse Bell!" Draco protested, and Granger looked at him incredulously. "What? I didn't… I wasn't able to perform the curse, so I asked my Aunt Bellatrix to perform the Imperius curse for me… Wait, how do you know about this?" Fear coursed through his veins, because Granger had been with Potter, so if Granger knew… Potter knew… And something had gone seriously wrong.

Granger told Draco everything that had happened at Hogsmeade, from start to finish. At the end, Draco sighed. That wasn't meant to happen. It was meant to go to Dumbledore! Nobody was meant to know it was cursed until Dumbledore had been cursed by it!

"Well, that sucks." He grumbled, masking his internal anxiety and indignation.

"Didn't you hear me Malfoy? Katie's lucky to be alive, and she isn't very far from it! You could have killed… her…" Draco could practically see Granger's mind whirring as she worked it out. When she next spoke, her voice was small. "Why are you trying to kill Professor Dumbledore?"

"Who said I was…"

"Don't lie to me, Malfoy, why are you trying to kill Dumbledore?!" Granger screamed, rushing to him suddenly. Draco stepped backwards, and stumbled, falling to the floor.

"I…"

"TELL ME!"

"Okay, alright, alright! The Dark Lord wants me to kill Dumbledore! Merlin!" Draco closed his eyes, expecting the worst, silently yelling at himself for telling her.

"Will you?" Granger whispered. "Will you kill Professor Dumbledore?"

"That's what He wants me to do." Draco said, avoiding her gaze. He got up and walked off.

By some miracle, Granger didn't follow him.


A/N: Thanks to wattsnelson, moonlight fire xx, bookword1096 and Oi-isawwhutyuuhdidthar for favouriting.

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