Ch 8
Draco was striding down the corridors leading to the Slytherin common room trying to keep his temper under control. Hermione was awake now, Madam Pomfrey getting her discharged after a week of care and she assured him that she could make it to their common room on her own. Once she was there, he knew she'd be safe and that no one but himself could get in. He was willing to stand there and stubbornly argue with her that he wasn't going to leave her alone again when Potter waltzed into the hospital wing. Hermione immediately suggested that Harry accompany her to ease Draco's worrying. He agreed and Draco had been stuck so he begrudgingly handed her over to her friend. Now he was determined to hunt these bastards down. And he knew exactly where to start.
"Unicorn's Blood" he murmured at the entrance of the Slytherin common room. He strode into the room, his face now wearing his familiar mask of cold indifference as his eyes searched out Theo and Blaise. Like Pomfrey said, there were only a handful of students who had the gall and skill to attack the Head Girl, least of all Hermione Granger. These two were the top contenders. They weren't here but sitting by the fire place was Daphne Greengrass and Millicent Bulstrode. If there were ever two gossips within the Slytherin House, these two unlikely friends would be them.
"Hello ladies. Lovely evening to be in the dungeons, yeah?"
"Hello Draco. We haven't seen you down here in a while. What brings you?"
"I wanted to get out of my bloody dormitory. Haven't seen Blaise and Theo lately have you?"
"Come to think of it, we haven't seen them all day. Well that's most disconcerting, isn't it Millie?"
"About a week ago they started disappearing for stretches of time. It was about the time the mudblood was attacked."
"Why are you looking for them?"
"I just wanted to see if they'd like to go flying with me for a while, nothing serious, Daphne darling."
"Alright, well if we see them, we'll let them know." Draco rose, pecking the cheeks of first Daphne, then Millicent before taking his leave.
"Thank you for your help, ladies. Have a good night."
"Bye, Draco." As he left the Slytherin common room, he couldn't help but think how proud his mother and father would be that, even after the war, his pureblood manners were still intact.
She was sitting in the common room with Harry, low voices talking intently. She looked up at him when he walked in and smiled at him, eyes sparkling. This was the first time in a week that she'd looked this happy. Her smile faltered when she saw the serious look on his face and Harry turned to see what the matter was.
"Draco?" Her voice reached him, quivering slightly. His gaze bore into hers as he smiled tightly. Harry rose from the couch and stood before him, blocking their conversation from the girl on the couch.
"What happened, Malfoy? What did you find out?" Harry murmured softly. A wary look to Hermione made Draco's voice barely audible.
"I'm fairly certain it was Nott and Zabini." The emerald eyes darkened, fury sparking behind them. For the first time, the two boys felt as though they were on the same page.
"We'll talk. We'll fix it." Harry replied in a quiet whisper. Draco considered it for a moment wanting the revenge completely to himself before nodding sharply.
"Tell me what's going on. What happened, Draco? Where did you go?" His eyes met hers again, softer this time as he walked around to sit beside her. He brushed her hair out of her eyes, gently tucking it behind her ear.
"How are you feeling? Are you alright?" He smiled as she unconsciously turned her cheek into his hand a bit before nodding.
"Just a little hungry. Where did you go?"
"I just had to have a chat with someone. Don't worry. Shall we go down to lunch?" He saw the hesitation written across her face, the shiver of fear coursing through her body before steeling herself and nodding.
"I'm just going to pop off to the loo. I'll just be a moment." The boys nodded as she hurried up the stairs. Draco took this opportunity to talk to Harry.
"They've been absent a lot since her accident. I didn't find them, but I talked to Daphne and Millicent and they were both extremely helpful."
"Why would Daphne and Millicent know anything?"
"They are, in essence, the Lavender and Pavarti of the Slytherin house. They will know everything that goes on."
"So what do we do now? They can't just get away with this, Malfoy. I don't care if they're your friends."
"Of course they won't get away with this. I promised her that whoever did this wouldn't get away with it. We first have to figure out if it really was them. We need a plan. What are you staring at?"
"She's right. You really have changed."
"Brilliant observation, really, but there are more pressing matters at hand here." They both looked up at the staircase as the door opened.
"I'll owl you." Draco nodded stiffly before turning to Hermione. Her eyes were fixed on the two of them suspiciously.
"Something's wrong."
"No, no, just talking."
"That's why I think something's wrong."
"You're really very paranoid, Hermione. You should relax a touch. Ready to head down?" She smirked at his teasing tone before nodding and stepping off the staircase before lurching forward, stumbling as she whimpered in pain. Warm arms wrapped around her tightly as the sharp spasms flowed through her.
"What's the matter? Should I get Pomfrey?" Her body trembled, the breath being pushed from her lungs as she leaned heavily on Draco.
"No, this happens sometimes. It's residual from her accident." Slowly, the tremors eased off, her breath came back and she straightened.
"Alright?" Her brown eyes met grey and she gave him a shaky smile.
"Yes, I'm alright, let's go." Draco gave Harry one last pointed glance before following her out the common room. They were halfway down the stairs when Hermione's step faltered. Blaise and Theo had just come out from the doorway leading to the dungeons. He heard her breath catch, saw her hand tighten on the railing as her face paled slightly. Blaise caught sight of her and smirked slightly before seeing Draco beside her. He nodded sharply to the blonde boy before walking into the Hall. Draco bent his head close to her ear, a hand reassuringly on her back.
"Don't be afraid. I'm here." She took a shaky breath and resumed walking, comforted by Draco's presence. The three of them paused outside the Great Hall, Hermione looking down as Harry and Draco studied her for any sign of unwillingness to go in.
"Well…We'll see you after then, Draco?" Hermione's voice trembled a touch as she looked up at him, wariness at being too far from him in the recesses of her voice.
"You'll be just fine. Potter here will watch over you." Harry steered her into the hall, looking at Draco. Find something out, will you? Draco nodded slightly at them before walking over to the Slytherin table. He settled himself a little ways down from Daphne, close enough to hear her conversation with Blaise and Theo but not close enough to seem like he was interested. Pulling out his potions book, he flipped open to that night's homework assignment.
"There you two are! Where have you been off to this time?"
"Oh nothing. Just getting back to some unfinished business."
"Well you've been gone an awful lot, ever since the Granger's little accident."
"Oh trust us, Daphne. That wasn't an accident."
"What's that supposed to mean, Nott?"
"Easy there, Millie. We're just under the impression that it was someone's intention to put the filthy little witch out of commission for a while." Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw Daphne lean closer to them glancing at the staff table.
"Well whoever it was is incredibly stupid. Now McGonagall's out for blood and the students are on high alert. These vigilantes might think the war is over but the people in this hall are still losing family members out there and they're not about to let someone start hunting them down in here without a fight."
"Are you trying to warn us of something, Daphne?" She straightened her aristocratic posture and mask of coolness slipped back on.
"I'm doing no such thing, Blaise. I'm just trying to ward you and Theo off doing something incredibly stupid in light of recent events."
"Consider us as warded, love."
"Don't call me that, Theo."
He snickered as they all returned to their lunches, conversation taking a dramatically lighter tone. Draco now had what he was looking for.
Thanks for reading! :D I'll probably update a couple more times by the time my winter holiday is over. Hope you enjoy!
XX Willow
