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"You wished to see me my Lord?" Narcissa Malfoy stepped hesitantly into Voldemort's room.
"Yes Cissy." He hissed out and turned his death like stare onto the witch's face. "I understand that you do not wish for me to make Draco my heir of sorts?" His slit like eyes narrowed and scrutinized her expression.
"That's correct," Her face was strong but the evil man could sense fear lingering in the air, "He's my only son and I have watched you do too much to him. I don't want you to use that spell you invented on him. He's just a boy." Voldemort's mouth twitched and his eyes turned darker.
"I am your Dark Lord!" He spat, "You are a useless woman who will not tell me what I can and can't do!" His voice seemed to hiss around the room long after his lips had formed the words.
"And I am a mother," Narcissa's voice did not waver, "I will do anything to protect my son." The snakelike man's face twisted into fury and he shot a speechless spell at the witch. She shrieked and fell to the ground screaming in agony. With another careless flick of his yew wand, the Dark Lord lifted Narcissa from the torture.
"How about now Cissy? Do you still want to defy me?" He had a sickening glee in his inhuman eyes from hurting her.
"Yes. I will never let you hurt my son again. Not after what he went through last year." Her breathing was wheezing and try as she might; her feeble arms could not life her frail body off of the wood floor. Voldemort sent another torture curse at the woman and she let out a cry before curling into a ball and rocking back and forth on the ground.
"I can sense that you will not give in any time soon." The death white pale wizard whispered menacingly underneath Narcissa's cries. "No matter," he continued talking mostly to himself while holding the Crucio in place, "You will come for quite a shock in a couple of years. Whether I am here or not, I will live on." His mouth twisted into a deformed evil grin, "And maybe if I'm lucky, you will be the one to kill your precious son. That will show you to defy your Dark Lord." He shot a magenta spell straight at the crying witch rendering her unconscious and swept out of the room with Nagini at his feet.
Hermione pulled her head out of the ancient pensieve with a startled gasp. Her worst fears had been realized. Voldemort had essentially put Narcissa under his command even after his death. And she had no idea how to heal it. Her gasps became shorter and more panicked until strong male arms grasped her sides and pulled her close.
"Hermione" Draco spoke into her bushy locks, "You need to calm down. It's gonna be ok. We'll figure this out." She pulled away from him and looked up into his uncertain eyes. Fear was clearly written across his pointy features but she saw a certain Gryffindor bravery splashed in as well.
"You shouldn't be comforting me." She spoke into his face, feeling his cool breath hitting her. Draco looked over Hermione's expression and settled his eyes onto her lips. He had never noticed how absolutely perfect they were. And the way her teeth were currently worrying her bottom lip making it swell…he could so easily kiss her right then and there. The Slytherin moved his head closer to hers and stepped a couple inches from her. Her breathing had stopped and she now let out long hot breaths. He could feel her heart beating rapidly under her marvelous chest. Right then and there the blond wizard came to full terms of just how bad he had it for her.
Hermione cleared her throat and pulled away from his face, "We should go talk to your mother about this. She must have known something happened." Her cheeks were bright red as she turned away from him and stumbled out of the artifacts room where the pensieve was kept. Draco stood motionless in the same position. He had been so close. Sighing, the wizard stalked out of the room after her.
They burst into Narcissa's room causing the older witch to jump in her bed. "Please don't be angry with me." She mumbled. It had taken quite a bit of persuasion to get her to pull the wispy memory out of her platinum blond head.
"We're not mad." Hermione soothed
"Like hell we're not mad!" Draco roared as he stomped in behind the healer, "Mother what the fuck were you thinking?"
Her eyes became teary as she addressed her enraged son, "I was thinking that nothing on this planet is more important to me than you are. I was thinking that you are a good man and didn't deserve to go through any more torture from that monster. I was willing to do anything to keep you from the fate of your father. You're a better man than that Draco." Her voice shook on the last sentence. Draco's face twisted from rage to a somber, agonized expression. He stepped up and began rubbing her back to comfort her. Hermione felt as if she was intruding on an emotional moment and was about to step out when Narcissa spoke again, "So what exactly is wrong with me?"
"Well…" The Gryffindor wrung her hands together and looked down at the floor, "I'm not exactly sure what happened or how that spell worked but I think…" she looked back up and stared into Draco's eyes, "I think it's a mixture between a horcrux making spell and an Imperius. It's almost as if Voldemort put his ideas and beliefs into your head and when you are at weak moments it takes over making you lose your own thoughts completely. I'm guessing that's what is causing your skin to look dead like that. He hit you in the stomach with that curse so it resides there most of the time but it travels throughout your body when you are weak. The spell is so evil and corrupted; it's killing every part of the good inside you. Essentially if the enchantment wins…you'd be like a second Voldemort." Both of the Malfoy's eyebrows shot up and fear laced into their eyes.
"What…what are you gonna do about it?" Mumbled Draco.
"I'm not sure yet." Hermione huffed out a breath and took Narcissa's hands into her own, "But I swear to you that I will make it better. And I have an idea of how to find a cure." She turned her head to Draco, "Can I…can I umm try out your library? I've heard it's quite detailed in dark arts."
"Sure, why don't we go there now?" He began to stand but his mother pulled his arm back down.
"Now Draco," she scolded, "It's now almost eight in the morning and the poor girl has barely gotten any sleep!"
"Oh no Mrs. Malfoy it's fine! Really!" Hermione didn't mention that she had taken a wide eyed potion earlier before they had gone to the pensieve. She most likely wouldn't sleep for another ten hours.
"Well if you're sure…" Narcissa scanned Hermione's face suspiciously, "Draco can take you." Draco stood and led Hermione out of the door. "Oh and dear," she called after the pair, "Call me Narcissa. I don't know how many times we will have to go through this." She curved the corners of her mouth into a playful smile before getting a nod from Hermione and resting back into her bed.
The thin pale wizard led Hermione down several twisting hallways before they came before two marvelous oak doors. "Just in here." He pushed them open with a loud creak and Hermione's jaw dropped involuntarily.
There were mahogany shelves reaching all the way up the twenty foot ceilings and books covered every inch of them. Squishy armchairs sat in a square in the middle with a couch across from them. On the far wall was a gigantic window with a seat in the alcove it created. If Hermione could have created a heaven, this room would probably be it. Draco smiled at the awed look on the witch's face. Her plump lips opened up into an 'o' and her glorious brown eyes were glazed over with wonder. He would've loved to just embrace her petite body right then and attack her perfect mouth with his own. Dear god, when had he become such a sap? Had two weeks with the golden girl done this much to him? The pureblood shook his head slightly before walking into the library.
"The darker books are higher up on the shelves so I can just levitate some down for you to read for now." Her head nodded quickly and she ran into the room, inhaling the smell of the book bindings and old pages just waiting to be read. The pale wizard chuckled before flicking his wand and sending thirty books down from their dusty places and onto a side table by the armchairs. "I'm just going to lie on the couch and rest my eyes, but if you need any more books don't hesitate to ask or just levitate them yourself. They're all yours to read." He sauntered over to the all too inviting couch and plopped down shutting his tired eyes immediately. It had been much too eventful of a night for his taste.
Hermione dove into the pile of books and picked up a good ten before skipping over to the seat in the window. The first book was titled "The Darkest Arts and How to Possess Them." She shivered at the information that rested in her hands and cracked the ancient text open.
About an hour into her reading she looked up to find Malfoy completely passed out on the couch. His mouth was agape slightly and his hands flown around his disheveled blond hair. He looked quite handsome when all the creases of worry were etched away from his otherwise flawless face. She felt a small pit of heat growing in her tummy at the thought of just how good he looked at the moment. They had been so close to kissing earlier and Hermione scolded herself for being so scared and not going for it. She obviously was quite attracted to the man; whether she wanted to be or not.
Her thoughts were pulled to the present as Draco began mumbling in his sleep. The worry lines came back full force onto his face and he gripped the couch tightly. "No…stop hurting them…they didn't steal it." Hermione stood up from her seat and began towards the sleeping wizard, "Stop hurting her…please. She's crying…stop." There was now sweat breaking out along his brow and he was trembling slightly. "Don't…don't hurt her." Hermione placed a cool hand against his forehead and felt a shock jolt through her body at his skin touching hers.
"Draco, wake up. You're having a nightmare." She stroked her hand down his smooth face and shook his body gently. His grey eyes flew open and he sat up straight.
"You're ok." He panted while wiping away sweat. She nodded and scooted closer onto the couch to hold him. He turned towards her and his hot breath hit her cheeks making them redden. "I keep dreaming of that. Of that day when she hurt you. I rarely dreamt of it before but now…" he leaned his head just an inch closer, "It's all I dream of. I can't get it out of my head," he licked his lips making Hermione's heart beat just a smidge faster, "I can't get you out of my head Hermione." He looked into her eyes quickly before leaning forward and pushing his lips against her own. They meshed against her own like a puzzle piece and she brought a hand around his neck to push his head closer before biting down on his bottom lip. He opened up his mouth and their tongues began to have a luscious dueling match. Hermione fondled the baby hairs that lay against his neck and Draco groaned into her mouth causing her to come to her senses.
Hermione pulled away abruptly and put a hand over her mouth. "I'm so sorry. That was bad, I shouldn't of done that." She stood up and began walking towards the doorway, "I should get going before…before we do something we would both regret." Her voice shook as she looked back at the stunned wizard who still sat stone still.
"That wasn't something I regret doing just now Hermione." He growled, "It's something that should of happened for a while now." He strutted up to her and the witch backed up a few steps further into the hallway.
"Draco we've only known each other for two or three weeks!" She cried
"Nonsense," he scoffed, "I've known you since you were eleven." Hermione rolled her eyes and backed up again.
"You know what I mean! I just broke up with my boyfriend for Merlin's sake! And Harry's wedding is coming up and Ron with Pansy…" she began rambling and Draco pounced on to his opportunity, taking her mouth for his own once more. She reacted instantly, picking right back up where they had left off. It lasted for thirty seconds before the Gryffindor pushed at his chest. "No! This is wrong. I shouldn't do that, no not after everything that has happened, it's completely unprofessional and I could get fired and I would lose focus on healing and,"
"You're pretty cute when you mumble nonsense to yourself Granger." Draco interrupted. She looked up into his face wildly.
"Do not call me cute! No, this is…this can't happen again." She turned from him, "I have to go; I'll be back in two days to work on your mother again. Goodbye Mr. Malfoy." There was a loud crack and Draco was left alone with the taste of strawberry chapstick still lingering in his mouth. And damn did it taste good.
A/N: I hope everyone liked this chapter...I've been trying to figure out their first kiss and this popped into my head yesterday and I liked it so that's that! Sorry if there are spelling/grammar mistakes. I don't have a beta or anything so I just proofread it myself and I'm kind of rotten at it. Once again thank you to everyone who has favorited and reviewed! It means a ton! (:
