Dragon in the Lions' Den
Notes: Thanks to everyone who's read the story so far, and gold stars to my reviewers. I'd love to get to 200 by chapter 12, so please help me along. Also, if you have any suggestions for the Draco and Hermione 'Getting to know you' chapter, let me know. I'll be writing it soon. Sorry it took so long to update... I've been writing chapter 17, and it's 8 pages hand-written so far, and I haven't gotten to the most important part of the chapter, yet. Needless to say, it may become 2 chapters when I'm done. Hope you had a good Memorial Day weekend, for those of you who observe the holiday.
#10 These Lies We Tell
For the next few weeks, things slowly built up between Hermione and Malfoy, until it was clear that something big and rather dangerous was on the horizon. They barely tolerated each other in class or in their sessions with Snape. While this behavior was not a new development for the two students, Professor Snape, who spent several days a week with them, knew that the tension growing between them was going to explode eventually and he did not look forward to picking up the pieces left behind. So he did what any another person would do in the mean time; he helped create and add to the already expanding tension, precariously held in place by a pair of stubborn teenagers.
Hermione was quite easy for Snape. She basically added fuel to the fire on her own. Her obsession with completing the initial dueling spells nearly drove her mad. Every session seemed to end the same way for her: She'd spend at least two hours, twice a week with Snape, picking herself up off her arse. The location she found her arse was the only thing that varied… she was either on the floor or against the wall. Her once tan body was a putrid shade of yellowish-purple. Lucky for her, her robes hid most of the bruising. Unfortunately, she was still in a lot of pain, despite healing herself every night.
At first, she left her lessons hopeful and energized. She was focused on what she wanted, and she knew, deep in her soul, that she would master this as easily as everything else she'd accomplished. It was her steadfast faith in herself and her ignorance in regard to the difficulty of the task that would be her ultimate undoing. In her over-confidence, she overlooked the blatant truth staring her right in the face. Snape saw this, and used it to his advantage.
Snape teased her with bits of information, and had she put it together, she might have understood just how daunting a task traditional dueling could be. He dangled the information in front of her, stating that it took Malfoy months to perfect this skill. It was all there in front of her, everything she needed to understand that this process was more than just learning an incantation, spell or simple wrist flick. It was mindset, a way of life.
Yes, he could have explained everything about the basics of dueling to Hermione, explained the intricacies of the spell combinations and broken it down in such a way that she would have understood immediately. He could have explained how difficult the spell combination was, and how long it took for even the most powerful and experienced wizards and witches. He could have told her that of all the students he'd advised or gone to school with, she'd learned the quickest. That tidbit of information would have been enough to see her through the mastery of the spell. Yet Snape held back.
One could say failure was the fault of the student, for being unprepared or 'unworthy' of the task. Others? Others would blame the teacher. Snape knew her well after six years of having her as a student. He understood how she worked, what motivated her. He could also read her well, and fed the growing flames of unrest.
Similarly, Snape could have helped with Draco Malfoy, who could have used support and guidance through this critical point in his life. The boy was hanging by a thread, the tension around him was so thick, it could nearly been seen, if not felt. His Godfather could have eased up on homework a bit for the Slytherin prefect (which he'd done in the past, especially when Quidditch matches with Gryffindor were on the line). Professor Snape knew that Draco still did not know the status of his mother, if she was safe, or dead, and this was one of the biggest fears that young man dealt with. It didn't help that Draco had been receiving messages from his Aunt Bellatrix nearly everyday, using his mother against him. Severus could have told Draco that Bella was bluffing; just trying to make sure that her precious nephew was carrying out his duty to 'his Lord'. Snape could have told Draco that Narcissa Malfoy was alive and well, safely hidden away and protected by the Order, and Bellatrix had no idea where her sister was. But he didn't.
No, Severus Snape allowed these thought to eat away at the young man until he was nearly driven mad. Draco Malfoy had become snappish towards his peers, hexing and threatening anyone who got in his way. This type of behavior was not new to the House of Slytherin, but Draco's attitude and anger was not readily accepted. Draco was unable to get release from members of the opposite sex as well, due to images of a scantily clad Hermione Granger floating through his mind, much to his chagrin. His inability to let out his pent up aggression and sexual frustration was taking its toll. Draco Malfoy was a ticking time bomb. It was just a matter of timing and the appropriate catalyst to set him off and Snape knew when it did, all hell would break loose.
This building tension grew increasingly into Spring. At the training session on the last Thursday night in April, the teens were unusually cruel and unforgiving against each other. The fighting was rough and forceful, both using odd curses and charms. Hermione found herself slammed against the wall more times than she could count, and at least once she heard bones crunch, and later she was quite certain her shoulder popped out of joint. Draco on the other hand found his ribs bruised and battered by the Golden Girl. She met each of his hexes in kind, and he picked himself up off the floor more than once. By the end of the night, they were ready to have a go at each other physically, before Snape finally pulled them apart and threw them out of the room, Hermione and Draco screaming profanities at each other the whole time. Snape was glad that the next day was Friday, and a weekend would separate Draco and Hermione from slitting each others throats, giving them more time to cool off before the storm that was so rapidly gaining momentum finally hit. Unfortunately, the tempest chose to hit a few days earlier than desired and it would cause more devastation than the wise professor could foresee.
Friday morning, Hermione woke to find spring in the air, and she became anxious for the summer, when she could finally get away from these awful training sessions with Malfoy and Snape. Spring was intoxicating for Hermione Granger; the smell of fresh cut grass and flowers over powered her mind. She often found fresh flowers by her bed, a lovely gift from Viktor Krum. Her eyes still closed, she took a deep breath in, drowning in the scent of lilac and roses.
"Mmmmm" she murmured, feeling energized by this new scent in her room. "Spring is here. I wonder what scent the perfume will change to for the season."
She showered and changed, dabbing on her favorite perfume that changed its scent each season based on the wearers preferences. Harry found the unique perfume for her, and gave it to her for Christmas, when it smelled like cinnamon and vanilla. She grabbed her book bag, and headed to the great hall for breakfast, feeling much better than she had in weeks. Little did she know, the feeling wouldn't last very long.
She entered the hall and walked to the Gryffindor table, taking and empty seat between Harry and Neville. Ron sat across the table from them next to Lavender and Ginny.
"Hello Hermione," said Harry happily, as she sad down next to him. He noticed the slight fragrance of flowers in the air, and smiled when he realized it was coming from his best friend.
"Hi Harry," she replied, smiling at them.
As good as Hermione felt, deep in the back of her mind, she knew that the happiness she currently felt was a false sense of joy. The feeling merely masked all of the anger, stress and physical pain, yet she clung to it for all it was worth. She wanted to enjoy herself for the day, to actually feel free from her task at hand and the uncertain future in front of them all. So she plastered a smile on her face and refused to let anything bother her. At least for today.
Harry and Ron were happy to see her so upbeat, knowing that the season had a lot to do with her cheerful manner. The boys were well aware that she was enamored with spring, and it took a lot to bring her down this time of year. They loved to bring her flowers in the spring as she always got giddy. Her two male friends rarely treated her like a girl, mostly because she didn't act like one, but there was something about spring that brought out the girl in her, and the boys played it up as much as they could. Seeing her in such a good mood seemed to brighten their day, and for once, they could forget the troubles that plagued their minds.
For as happy as Hermione Granger pretended to be, Draco Malfoy was twice as angry. The closer he got to the end of the school year, the more on edge he felt. As far as his aunt and Dark Lord were concerned, he was working on a way to bring Death Eaters into the castle. In addition, Draco was also expected to kill the Headmaster, something he neither planned on doing nor desired to do. He'd been waiting for Dumbledore and Snape to talk to him about their plan for that fateful evening, yet they remained quiet. The lack of support and information from the elder men was tearing Draco apart inside. He continued to work on his 'project', for no other reason that keeping his mother alive, no matter what happened to him. And to keep his mind occupied.
Draco spent hours in the room of requirement on his project, and despite his total and complete devotion, he was still unable to find away to allow the Dark Lord's men inside. He feared for his mother's life, and the guilt was eating away at him. He wanted everyone to feel as angry, empty and hopeless as he did, and his isolation only increased those feelings. He felt like he was dangling over a bottomless pit, and the life rope he was depending on was slowly unraveling one thread at a time… much like his grip on life.
It was no surprise when he met with an apparently gleeful girl in the hall way, Draco Malfoy lost whatever control he had on his emotions and took it out on the only person nearby. She was his mortal enemy for nearly 6 years, the person who represented the hypocrisy of everything that he'd been taught to believe, the best friend of Harry Potter, the girl he couldn't seem to get out of his mind. She was the person who was supposed to help him survive.
Hermione Granger.
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"That bloody bastard set you up…" Ron seethed, turning to Draco. "What did you do!?!"
Draco turned deathly pale, but it was Hermione who spoke.
"We're getting to that, Ronald."
"So what were you doing the whole time Hermione was training, Malfoy?" Ginny asked teasingly, trying to ease the tension in the room.
"The question isn't 'what', Ginny, but 'whom'," Hermione shot back, smirking. Draco looked a little less pale, but now he was annoyed.
"Hey, I was busy with my own task, which you are all aware of now."
"Which included shagging the flavor of the week," his wife taunted.
"I had a reputation to keep." Draco said, proudly defensive.
"We all know about your reputation, Draco," said Ginny. The room lifted in laughter.
"There were only two, Granger," Draco explained.
"Liar," she responded.
""OK, three." He confessed. "You do realize that #3 was the second to last woman I ever slept with, once I realized that I wasted to be with you."
"Ahhh. The beautiful Lisette," Hermione mused, but no one missed the sharp tone she used.
"She was hot, and she came onto me. I didn't go looking for that at all." He told her, feeling guilty about something that happened almost three years earlier and shortly before he started dating his wife. "Not bad for the last woman I shagged before you, love."
"She was beautiful," Hermione reluctantly admitted, hearing Draco's teasing tone.
"He talks to you about the women he's shagged?" Choked Ron. "And you're ok with that?"
"Just the ones he had before me," Hermione chuckled. "I'm not worried about those girls. It's the ones after me I'm concerned with."
"He's cheating on you?" growled Harry.
"Of course not, Harry." She snapped. "He knows exactly what would happen if he did…" she grinned, and the men in the room felt a chill up their spine.
"She'd hex my bits off," Draco replied, turning green at the thought.
"Too true, Mate," said Ron gruffly.
"Since we both know how attached you are to my bits, Granger," Draco teased, "I'm fairly certain that I won't be going anywhere."
"So romantic, Malfoy, I'm swooning." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"There never will be anyone after you, Hermione. You have to know that by now." Draco said softly, looking into his wife's eyes. They teased and tormented each other, much like they did in school, but they were deeply devoted to each other. Draco wanted to make sure his wife understood how much he loved her, and only her. "No one else."