A/n: Chapter nine here! I hope you have stuck around to this point, because things are just going to keep picking up between Hermione/Draco and also with Scorpius and the "Creature" lurking in the woods! Think you know what it is yet? Let me know after you read this new chapter! Thanks to my betas JDeppIsMyLovely and Tessa Cresswell!


The Eyes

Drinking with Malfoy did little to calm her down. They spoke only briefly about what happened in the woods, dancing around the topic as much as possible. Mostly they sat in silence, staring at different objects as they each became lost in their own minds. Neither quite understood what had happened out there, just that it was unnatural. She departed three hours after midnight, having finished the entire bottle of liquor with him because of her nerves. He saw her to the fireplace for good measure, and they both agreed to take a break that night from searching. They needed some time to get their wits about them again.

When she arrived later to begin working on Scorpius again, she barely glanced the blonde's way. He sat in his usual spot upon arrival, staring at nothing. He barely acknowledged her presence, and for today she was perfectly fine with it. Even just looking at him made that bloody voice replay in her mind, speaking the same words.

Hello, Hermione.

Going so soon princess? It's a shame; we had so very much to discuss.

She didn't quite understand what the creature meant by that, much less how it knew her name. Nonetheless she did not sleep when she returned home, and instead sat with the lights on all night, searching the darkness for something dangerous. That outline- those eyes- would not stop popping into her mind anytime she saw a shadow.

It was certain now; she was terrified of what was out there. And her lack of sleep upon her return home that hours before showed through when she again arrived, the bags under her eyes dark. She didn't really care though, so long as she survived the night.

She wasn't going to get any sleep for a long time if she let herself continue to be scared like this.

Adam said nothing about her appearance until after they had reached the bedroom. He glanced up at her at some point and couldn't hold back the retort that slipped through his lips. "You look tired Hermione; spend too much time at the Manor last night?"

Her head snapped up and her eyes widened as fear began gripping her. Did he somehow know that they had been out there, searching the forest? "I don't know what you're talking about," she replied lamely, hoping he would say something more on the subject. Was he spying on them?

The man shrugged, continuing to study their patient. "Oh, nothing. I was simply wondering if your reason for being so tired was because you were here all night… fucking Malfoy."

Her eyebrows drew together. "Adam, you're sick. I wouldn't waste my time on the likes of him. The fact that you can even come to a conclusion as absurd as that shows how little you know about our backgrounds; he is an arrogant Pureblood prat, one who declares that everyone who is not the same blood status as he as inferior. And he really hates Mudbloods, as he calls them. To put it in crueler terms, that's what I am. Now why would he ever bother doing anything physical with me? You're off your rocker, and you need to get back on it. I do not take it lightly when someone insinuates that I sleep around, and I won't tolerate it from you either. Get that ridiculous idea out of your mind; there is no way that is possible. I don't know why you drew a conclusion like that, but it's incorrect."

Lincoln shrugged. "I don't much care about your blood backgrounds Hermione, though I already knew your standing with each other. That's simply my assumption, since you two are always so close." He shrugged, looking down at the little child again. "He is divorcing after all, so it's not unheard of that he would branch out and fuck whoever he can. When was the last time that you had a relationship- or even a hook up? Maybe it would be good for you."

Stopping her tests at that comment, she turned her wand up, angling it at him. "I don't much care what you think is good for me. Now stop bringing up your idiotic ideas, before I am forced to hex you. I won't tolerate this you know."

He smirked, ignoring her now. "Whatever you say Hermione. I was merely pointing something out."

She didn't ask him exactly what he meant by that, and chose to keep quiet instead, thinking his words over in her mind. He certainly seemed to be digging for some sort of information he himself did not have, but she wasn't sure what, or why.

They continued working up until lunch, making little progress as usual. She left the room first, tired of being in the moron's presence. Adam stayed back a few moments longer however, after she was gone.

He walked up and tapped the boy on the head, causing him to growl. A twisted grin slipped across his features as he looked down at the helpless child. "She is being too nosy, don't you think?" he asked, pulling his wand out. He waved it over the boy's body once, and he shuddered. With a smirk, the man reached up and undid two of the plugs to a simple machine they used, coating both plugs with a spell before he replaced them. Wizards could generate energy through their magic, and thus they could use a strange device like this to help certain patients. He smiled cruelly as he walked out the door.

He really shouldn't be tampering with the child's life, but he couldn't help it. He had greater forces to answer to than an angry witch, or even his boss, Mr. Williams.


The rest of the day passed quickly. Nothing new was discovered, and Adam managed to cloak the changes he had made to Hermione's spells and the machine. She never noticed, and he didn't care. The child's eyes might be full of fear now, but he just ignored looking into them. It was easier that way; he felt less guilt.

But his could not mess this up, and even if that meant hurting a helpless child, he would. He would just ignore his own actions.

She was just about to pack her things up for the day when Adam walked over to her, grabbing her arm to spin her into him. Her eyebrows drew together, a questioning look overtaking her features.

"What do you think you are doing?" she blatantly asked, shoving him away. The man looked very unfazed about her obvious distaste in being close to him, but it honestly didn't bother him when touching her wasn't the ideal purpose of his actions.

"You know," he began, ignoring her comment from before, "Frank is really considering repositioning you someplace else. He doesn't think it's good to have you around such supernatural experiences when all your solutions are of the supernatural nature. He's doubting your intelligence at this point."

Immediately, she noted the tone of his voice. It was icy, obviously intended to hurt her. And though she knew that had to be his intention, it didn't keep the small stab of anger away as he insulted her intelligence. He didn't have to make a comparison or even outright say it, but she could hear the distaste dripping with every word from his mouth. Whether this was really Frank's opinion or his own remained a mystery, but either way she didn't care. Clamping her jaw tight for a moment, she took a deep breath. He was poking at her for some reason, but why?

"I haven't heard anything about that," she replied evenly, looking at him once more. "He might've laughed at my idea, but if he really doubted my intelligence, he would have dismissed me from this entirely when we went to report to him. He wouldn't have wasted the time to pay me the extra income for going on house call every day. Someone else would be with you by now, and we both know it so please don't lie Adam. What are you trying to get at?"

The boy shrugged lamely, ignoring her eyes. "I thought you should know."

She huffed and turned away, but his words remained in her mind, stinging. Her solutions were really quite farfetched, weren't they? But if Adam and Frank had seen what she experienced with Malfoy out there in the woods, they would spin from skeptics to believers.


Sleep came with difficulty that night. The eerie voice replayed in her mind, the words bouncing around in her head as she fought for the relief of sleep. But after hours of tossing and turning that hope became futile, and she gave into the reality that she would likely get little sleep tonight.

That's how she ended up at her living room table, redoing the math again and again to see what she could cut from the budget this month to keep things going. Bills lay around her, the final notice stickers glaring angrily up at her. Oh if only she would put them into St. Mungo's where she could watch them, things would work better. But they did not favor the magical world, and she knew they would not want to wake up in that land. They would rather die in a muggle hospital than live in a magical one, and every day she reminded herself of that. Even when he was briefly awake those first few hours, he reminded her of their wishes. No magic meant death though, and she wasn't sure she could stomach that reality. They were too important.

You're at Malfoy's all the time Hermione! Why don't you cut some of the budget for food and simply eat there? I'm sure he is going to have you back there as soon as possible to go searching again- despite what happened last time- so push him for food. It will allow for more money to go to them…

But then I will be relying on Malfoy, and that's not right either. I barely trust the man; I can't rely on him.

She rubbed her forehead, knowing that wrinkles would begin to form the more she stressed out about things like this. She couldn't put off the truth forever, no matter how much she hated it. Even magic couldn't force someone out of a coma.

"You're puzzling princess, more than you should. The wrinkles that will form from this stress shall tarnish your face of its natural beauty."

Hermione jumped, letting out a small yelp at the voice. She looked around madly, gripping her wand with an iron fist with those words speaking to her. As she took in her living room again, her heart sank a degree. No one was there.

"I wouldn't let you see me darling; that would be too daring. But your thoughts were giving me a headache, and I simply needed to silence them a bit. Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

She felt her breath hitch. The voice- a very obviously male voice- spoke of wrinkles, just as she had been thinking moments ago. But how did it know her thoughts? How did it even get inside her head?!

"I have my secrets, Hermione Granger. Secrets you need not understand. Just think a little less sweet princess, else you will give us both a headache."

The girl felt an icy chill pass over her, and held her breath until the temperature around her became normal again. She waited with bated breath for the voice to say more, but nothing came. Letting out a huge sigh of relief that the moment was over, she collapsed back against the chair behind her. Now things were really getting creepy.

In the woods, Malfoy heard nothing when it came to a voice; he only saw the same shadowed figure that she did, and that was when they took off running. So why did it chose to speak to only her?

She got up slowly, chills running through her body. She no longer felt safe in her apartment. If the creature could so easily get past the barriers in her mind then physical wards could be just as easy to slip through. She lived alone without a cat that bothered to alert her of things anymore, and up until that moment things had never really fazed her. Now, she wished she had a roommate or someone; something to give her a reason to feel safe. Without the comfort of another person around, she felt vulnerable.

And if it decided to slip into her mind again, then she really didn't want to wait around and see what would happen. Scurrying back to her room quickly, she threw a few things into a bag and grabbed what she would need for tomorrow. There was no way she could remain there. Walking to the floo, she grabbed some powder and called out a destination. It was time to visit the muggle world again, and she knew exactly where to go for the night.

She knew it was time to visit them again, and again be harassed by doctors there who needed to be paid. Hopefully her worn green coat could shield the cold, and the hurt of returning. It never got any easier.


He never really felt the eyes on him, even as he dressed for the night. Peering out his window, he couldn't ever hope to see the creature. Draco had been sure to put up more wards throughout the day, attempting to shield his son from what hid in those trees.

He should've tried to figure it out sooner; now even Aurors didn't seem like such a bad choice. Draco needed to continue investigating out there, but if he continued to find strange, dangerous obstacles like last night then he had no hope of ever getting through the expanse of the woods. They were massive, and it would take a great deal of time to explore all of it and- only possibly- find what attacked his son. He couldn't exactly send Granger in a different direction, not after the strange experience they had just yesterday. He would not be responsible for her disappearance, or death.

Yet he would never have been able to see the figure even if he did turn and look out the windows, for now it hid too well behind the trees. They had been out prying in his territory, his property. And he did not appreciate the human interference. Now he would have to observe, and watch to see when they would foolishly try to explore next.

From those trees, a figure stepped up behind him. He did not fear the presence as it stood behind him, both sets of eyes now watching the distant dot of a blonde head, as the man prepared for bed. Soon darkness took over the room as well, signifying sleep. Yet he would not move; he would not stop watching until he knew their home was free of the invaders once more.

"You can't watch them forever; they are mortal. They have a tendency to pry where they don't belong."

He didn't look away from the darkened window, just simply reached back and patted the woman's small hand that had come to rest on his opposite elbow. "Patience Sarafene, I have my reasons for watching them."

"You don't have any," she remarked darkly. "That girl, that's who you're looking for. You dared to speak to her, and now you're looking for her again. It's unhealthy."

"Nothing is all that unhealthy for us," he replied lamely, unwilling to admit that he had spoken to her yet again that very night. "I'm just guarding the lands. They have never taken an interest in this place before."

The woman huffed, turning away from her partner. "Those are Malfoy men that spawn from that place you know. I used to tell stories about them; they are stubborn, and persistent. They will return to the woods."

He didn't respond as she walked away, the woods seemingly swallowing her up. He knew very well that they would return to the woods- hopefully together- and that's what he was waiting for. They had a score to settle.

Just wait, Hermione Granger.


Hermione was again late that morning. She woke up late at the hospital, and fled quickly to the nearest floo to get to the Manor. Unfortunately, she didn't wake up at the hospital that she worked at.

Adam had a fit the moment he saw her, again complaining about her careless nature involving the boy before them, and then he switched things around by returning to the degrading topic from yesterday. She couldn't stand it, and left him to watch the boy for a few moments so she could go in search of his father.

Oddly enough, she found him sitting in the library she could now find all by herself, another man sitting across from him. She recognized him as Blaise Zabini the closer she got, and it was the Italian that noticed her presence first.

"Healer Granger," he said cordially, surprising her by using such a formal greeting. She nodded towards him, unable to muster a word in response. She had expected some sort of cold sentence that did not go on from there, and would leave her with only Malfoy to speak to.

The blonde in question had a bottle of liquor beside him as usual. She arched an eyebrow, wondering if his night had been long too.

She had a feeling though that his had been difficult in very different ways.

"I heard about what happened last night," she began, squashing the elephant in the room as quickly as she could. Now the topic was out in the open, and she could see his expression hardening as she spoke. "I wish I had been around to help. No one paged me in-"

"He didn't want to," the blonde snapped, looking up to meet her eyes. There was a hurt there that she was all too familiar with; she understood how it felt to watch someone you love suffer. "There was nothing you could've done by being present Granger. Scorpius' condition will continue to worsen as the days go on. You should've noticed that this morning."

Hermione glanced away. "I did. I just don't understand what changed in the course of a night that is different from any other."

"I have no idea," Draco hissed, snatching the bottle in front of him up, tipping his head back to gulp down quite a bit of it. He slammed it back onto the table, meeting the eyes of his friend briefly. "I was alerted last night by a house elf, and nothing has improved from there."

The girl looked away completely. This morning Adam had been worse than normal, but she didn't need to ask why. He had been working since two the previous night, and had yet to get any sleep. But a fluctuating heartbeat on a child was something to be extremely worried about, and more Healers were on call just in case something started going downhill. She hoped for the sake of all the Malfoy's that nothing got any worse. More than ever she felt inclined to do as much research as possible to help the boy.

She assumed that was why Blaise had come over, whenever he had come over. Draco's mindset couldn't be fantastic, now that more problems were appearing. That was the last thing the man needed, and Hermione knew it would again eat at his subconscious. He never said so, but she knew he had to feel at fault for this. It was his son that got hurt after all.

Blaise and Draco continued to speak for many minutes, and she quickly found an excuse to go looking for some more research. It was getting crucial to find a solution to the problem, and aside from that, she didn't really want to be in the middle of the former Slytherin's conversation. Merlin knew what they would discuss at a time like this. She found herself walking back down into the lowest part of the library, away from the table entirely. When she returned a few minutes later with a single book, Malfoy was alone.

"He has to go talk to his daughter," the blonde said, answering the question in her eyes as she walked over. "She heard me talking last night when I flooed Blaise, and she panicked. He needs to go see her now."

Hermione nodded, avoiding responding. She didn't have children or a husband, and didn't know what that burden felt like. She was no one's mother after all, only a daughter. She opened the book and began searching for something useful, but the blonde's hand quickly came down in the middle of the page, obscuring her view. She glanced up at him with hooded eyes.

"Tonight," he said, drawing her attention, "Tonight, we have to go again. My son is getting worse by the minute, and I know that the answer has to be out there someplace. If you could be pulled away now I would, but I don't want your partner wondering about what we are doing."

She felt dread seeping over her at the thought of going back. She still hadn't informed anyone that she was now having a voice invade her thoughts and put its two cents in, let alone Malfoy. The last thing she wanted to do right now was go back there.

"Shouldn't you be watching your son?" she asked, crossing her arms in front of her. "If things are getting worse-"

"Don't go there!" He slammed his hand down on the table, causing it to shake, and with it, the bottle. It tumbled off the side it had been barely hanging onto, shattering on the floor. He wearily rubbed his head as things grew silent again, and she cleaned up the mess without being asked. She knew he was having a hard time deciding what to do in this situation.

"If you don't want to come tonight, don't," he said, glancing away. "I'm going back out there though; I need to figure out what's happening to my son. If you want to research out there, come with me tonight. If you won't go back after that incident, don't bothering returning today once your shift is over. You won't talk me out of going back Granger. I will not let him die when the solution to everything might be just outside my door."

She looked at him, trying to read the emotions on his turned head; there were none. He was masking his feelings, just as he had done back in school. The protective barrier was there to stay, and she assumed he would not let emotion out until either a solution came, or his son died. It was a dreadful thought, but one that made sense nonetheless. He had always been stubborn.

"I guess I'll see you tonight then," she replied, stomaching her fear. It seemed like a very bad idea to send him off alone, even if she herself didn't want to go back. She could always try owling Blaise, but didn't think he would really like that. She would have a fit if someone started revealing her secrets to others, and she got the feeling that he treated this as a secret matter. Even if she didn't want to go back out, she didn't quite want to send him alone then.

He looked back, nodding once. "I'm glad to hear it Granger."


Again, the eyes watched the giant structure before him. He watched with peaked interest as two small forms appeared from the structure, obviously exiting it. He watched the duo walk past the strange wards now placed on the Malfoy home, each of them passing through with ease.

Interesting.

They were the same as before; a boy and a girl. The Malfoy boy and Hermione Granger. He didn't know the boys first name; he hadn't bothered looking through his mind last time. Sure, he knew that the man sensed he was there, but nothing telepathically passed between them. Perhaps he would have to look into him as well tonight, instead of just the woman following at his side.

They make the strangest couple.

He was certain that they were married; why else would they live together? Yet he never saw them in the bedroom together, sleeping together. He didn't quite understand. They didn't seem very in love, and he didn't guard her very much. He wondered why the brunette stayed with him.

But maybe if he continued digging through her mind, he would understand the situation.

They entered the forest on the opposite side he resided in, disappearing into the trees. Glancing up from his position, he locked eyes with one of his own. A quick nod confirmed that he also saw the intruders, and then the glittering eyes disappeared.

Tonight, they fully intended to mark their territory and make sure the morals stopped trespassing on their land.


A/n: Dark, dark chapter! Review. If you guys didn't know this before, I like dark, twisted, scary stories :) Now do you have any thoughts on this? Let me know!