Chapter 9
A/N: Warning! Describes a mild scene of self harm! The scene will be between asterisks* if you wish to skip past it
As Abraxas Malfoy walked towards the Forbidden Forest, the sun shone brightly overhead. Although he walked under a disillusionment charm, Abraxas was careful not to make a sound as he walked through the groups of students enjoying the summer sun as they studied for their exams. The closer he got to the forest, the angrier Abraxas felt. The bad news he was bringing his Lord could result in punishment and that made him feel furious.
Despite the suns best efforts, the Forbidden Forest was dark and cold as Abraxas entered. The thick canopy of the forest blocked most of the light and it was nearly as dark as it was during the night time. The gnarled braches formed many obstacles for Abraxas to pass, but with a quick wave of his wand, he forced them out of the way. A Malfoy wasn't going to get dirty scrambling over the roots of trees after all.
Soon he reached a small clearing in the forest and pulled out a mirror from inside his robes and placed it on the ground. Withdrawing his wand he began to cast protective enchantments and repelling charms to repel any creatures of the forest approaching him. Before he could finish the repellent charms, however, a unicorn wandered into the clearing, confused as to the unusual noise near it's home. Without pausing, Abraxas pointed his wand at the majestic creature and uttered the words "Avada Kedavra" before turning away. The green light shot from his wand towards the unicorn and illuminated the white beast in emerald before it dropped down dead onto the forest floor with a thud, the life gone from it's eyes. Abraxas showed no hint of remorse as he continued with the repellent charms. He ignored the dead unicorn lying less than 5 metres away from him and seemed not to care about the grievous crime he had just committed .
*Once Abraxas had finished shielding himself away from any prying eyes or animals he picked up the mirror and smashed it with another spell. Vanishing all of the pieces aside from a long shard of glass, he paused for a moment, shuddering. Abraxas rolled up his sleeve and held the long sharp shard in his left hand. He placed it onto his forearm and pressed the blade into his fair skin. Blood began to trickle down his arm, dripping crimson onto the ground. The young wizard winced in pain slightly before internally reprimanding himself for showing weakness. As the blood streamed down his right arm, Abraxas began to chant, "Sanguine circumdabor pelle mea . Afferte mihi Dominus. Sanguine circumdabor pelle mea . Afferte mihi Dominus. Sanguine circumdabor pelle mea . Afferte mihi Dominus."*
(A/N: If you skipped the previous paragraph, Abraxas is using blood magic to cast a spell. The spell used translates to "Blood of my skin. Bring me my Lord.")
From the p0ool of blood on the ground, rose a ghostly figure of a man wearing dark robes that appeared to melt into the darkness of the forest. The man was pale, but handsome. His jet black hair was groomed back perfectly and his dark eyes showed no emotion as he regarded the teenager before him.
He cocked an eyebrow before speaking in a mellow voice, "And why are you still pouring blood, Malfoy? It is... unseemly."
Abraxas blinked a moment before raising his wand and performing a healing spell on his arm. He looked up at his Lord, who appeared to be floating above the puddle and said, "I bring news for you, my Lord."
"I gathered", said the Dark Lord. "I take it this information is so important that it couldn't wait for our weekly meeting?"
Abraxas quailed under the angry gaze of his master. "My Lord, it concerns the girl I spoke to you about when I last summoned you."
"Ah yes", Voldemort replied, his mouth twisting into a smile, lighting up the features on his handsome face. "I suppose that might be worthy of my time. Speak quickly then, Malfoy. I am a very busy person."
"She's a mudblood."
"What?", hissed Voldemort, "Are you suggesting that a filthy mudblood is better than me? That someone with no magical parents can enter the grounds when I can't? If I find out this is a trick, Malfoy, you shall be punished."
Abraxas flinched slightly at the threat from his master before lowering his head complacently. "I assure you this is no trick, my Lord. I have no reason to doubt my source."
Voldemort regarded Abraxas for a full minute before nodding slowly. "I know what needs to me done, Malfoy." The Dark Lord smiled, fully showing off the handsomeness of his face before the dark magic completely corrupted it. "I need you to perform a very important task."
"Yes, my Lord."
"You must get hold of this mudblood for me so I can interrogate her. Bring her to me by sundown on Friday."
"My Lord!", protested Abraxas. "That's only three nights away!"
"I expect her by Friday", repeated Voldemort.
"Yes master."
"Good. Any other news worthy of my time?"
"No, my Lord."
"Then I shall see you in the house on Friday with the girl else there will be a severe punishment for you."
Without another word, the Dark Lord vanished along with the pool of blood and Abraxas was left panting in the forest, alone, exhausted by the blood magic he had just performed.
Hermione was walking briskly to the library, ecstatic that she was finally able to leave the imprisonment of the hospital wing for a short while.
"Granger!", Malfoy complained half heartedly. "Will you slow down? I have to keep up with you you know!"
Hermione let out a laugh and slowed down. "I'm sorry, Malfoy. I'm just so happy!"
Malfoy smirked at her. "Really? Could have fooled me".
She gave him a warm smile and they walked to library in reasonably companionable silence.
The library itself was little different from the future library Hermione and Malfoy were used to. The same comfortable chairs were placed around the same table (everything looked slightly newer at this time) and the shelves of books were as organised as they would be in the 1990s. Hermione's smile broadened as she walked into her favourite place in the school. She glanced around the library, familiarising herself and was surprised to see that, despite there being a desk, there was no librarian. As she looked around for Madam Pince's predecessor, she noticed a vast amount of students in the library.
"It must be exam time", Malfoy said in response to Hermione's confused expression.
"Of course!", Hermione said, speaking loudly enough so that a few of the students around her gave her weird looks.
"You stand out enough in the plain black robes Dippet gave you without appearing to talk to yourself as well, Granger"
Hermione stifled a laugh.
"Excuse me" said a small voice behind her. "You look a bit lost. Can I help you?"
Hermione turned round to see a small Ravenclaw boy stood behind her.
"Yes", replied Hermione. "Could you tell me where the librarian is?"
"There isn't currently a librarian, so Dippet cast spells to check out the books for us. You can take out any books you want aside from the ones in the restricted section which you need a pass for."
"Thank you."
"What's your name?"
"Hermione Granger"
"Nice meeting you, Hermione Granger", the small boy said with a smile.
"What's your name?", Hermione replied, but the Ravenclaw had already began walking away and didn't reply.
Malfoy, who had stayed silently whilst Hermione was talking watched the small boy with interest. "I bet the books we need are in the restricted section", he said. "And, considering you aren't currently a student, I think you'll find that we could enter without a problem."
Hermione grinned at Malfoy's brilliance and walked over towards the restricted section. Seeing no one looking at her, she entered and began looking through the dark tomes on the shelves. Neither she nor Malfoy noticed the small Ravenclaw boy watching them as they entered.
As they browsed, Malfoy began to get frustrated at the amount he had to depend on Hermione. He couldn't help carry the books! He was getting fed up or being useless and a burden to Granger! When Hermione set some of the books she has selected on the table, Malfoy decided to attempt to read some of them. She opened the first page for him and he began to read "A time traveller's guide to the future" but before long he needed her to return from her browsing to turn the pages for him. Furious, Malfoy stalked off before the bracelet began to burn once more and he grouchily returned to Hermione's side.
Hermione, noticing Malfoy's mood, decided it was time for them to leave the library. She picked up as many of the books as she could carry past the librarian's desk (not being a student she didn't need to check them out) and out of the library. As they walked out of the library, neither of them noticed the Ravenclaw boy watching them and leaving the library after them to inform Abraxas of what he had seen.
"Malfoy", began Hermione softly.
"Don't Granger", Malfoy said, tersely.
"I-"
"No", Malfoy said. "I don't want to snap at you, Granger. Just leave me be for a while to calm down before I get even angrier and say something stupid to you."
Hermione didn't reply to Malfoy but her mind whirred as they walked back towards the hospital wing. He didn't want to snap at her? Malfoy delighted in insulting her and being cruel. Why would he not want to snap at her? She thought of how they were acting earlier before they entered the library. He had made her laugh. It almost seemed as though- no. Her and Malfoy would never be anything more than enemies. Let alone friends. Hermione decided to stop thinking about Malfoy's odd behaviour and instead put her incredibly clever brain to the predicament that both she and Malfoy were in together, friends or not.
A/N: Ta da! Chapter 9 complete! Quite a few more chapters to go I think. This story is only just beginning. Please leave me a review letting me know what you think. I'd love to hear from you! Did you like it? Was it rubbish? And if you have any questions too, I'll be more than happy to answer them unless they give something incredibly important away!
