Chapter 10 : Hogsmeade Trip
"You're lying, filthy Mudblood, and I know it! You have been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth, tell the truth!"
A blood-curling scream echoed off the walls.
"What else did you take? What else have you got? Tell me the truth or, I swear, I shall run you through with this knife!"
"We found it – we found it – PLEASE!"
"What else did you take, what else? ANSWER ME! CRUCIO!"
The silver blade dripping with blood – blurry vision because of the tears – the trembling grey eyes –
"Granger! Granger.. wake up.."
Someone was shaking her hard to wake her up. It took her a full one minute to understand that she was lying on her bed, shaking from head to toe while gripping hard on the blanket. Her eyes caught the sight of a tall shadow next to her bed, bending over with concerned grey eyes.
"Are you alright?" asked Draco with a strange voice.
Hermione just nodded in response, not trusting her voice to answer smoothly.
Draco sighed, and took a seat on the edge of the bed. "Silly me. Of course, you're not." He turned to look at her, and the look on his face immediately rendered her speechless.
"Malfoy – what –"
"It's her, isn't it?" He cut off, boring through her eyes. "Answer me, Granger. It's Bellatrix, isn't it? How long have you been having this nightmare?"
"Quite a while.." muttered Hermione slowly. She bowed her head, and fiddled with the blanket. She suddenly became aware that there were tears on her face mingling with the sweat. She bent her face even lower, wiping them on her hands as quickly as possible, so that Draco wouldn't see.
"I can hear you, you know," said Draco absently, staring down at his feet now. "Every night actually."
Face dry, Hermione looked up. She furrowed her brows in confusion, unable to apprehend his words.
"Usually, you're just thrashing around in your sleep. Mumbling a bit, but never yelling, and pleading like you did tonight."
Hermione cleared her throat awkwardly. "Is that so? I'm sorry—"
"Don't!" The reaction was almost spontaneous. He looked up in a flash with a stern glare, warning her to stop talking at once.
Hermione gulped audibly. His stern glare reminded her of his father, and it was honestly quite terrifying. He slowly shook his head, and lowered his gaze back in shame. It was impossible not to notice the terror in her face.
"Just – don't." said Draco, almost pleading now. His fists were tightly clenched at his side, and there was a pained expression colouring his pale face by now. "Do not apologize to me, Granger. This – This is nothing compared to what I've done to you! Back then in the Manor—" He immediately halted when Hermione raised a hand.
Hermione let out a soft sigh. "C-Can we not talk about this now? I'm tired. Maybe you should go back to your room, Malfoy."
Whatever Draco was about to say became stuck in his throat as Hermione quickly dived under her blanket, not giving a chance for him to argue. With one last resentful look, he got up with a heavy sigh, and quietly closed the wooden door.
~~X~~
"Stop staring, you thickhead." Ginny hissed in annoyance, reaching out to smack the back of Blaise's head. The latter groaned in response, rubbing the sore spot with an equally annoyed look.
"B-But-"
"Shut it." Ginny snapped before promptly pulling his ear just as Filch, the caretaker, checked off their names against a long list in his hold. It was their first Hogsmeade trip for the term, and most of the seventh year girls had decided to shop for the upcoming engagement ball. What was an initially happy thought for the girls turned into a nightmare when Professor McGonagall suddenly warned the engaged couples to behave accordingly during the trip. It was later revealed about a strong rumour going around that Rita Skeeter had been spotted around Hogsmeade for days, wandering around with her Quick-Quotes Quill and parchments. They suspected that she had been hoping to catch a glimpse of the affected seventh year students, probably wishing for an interview or two regarding the new law.
"It's a miracle they haven't noticed." Cho said sarcastically. She instinctively took a quick glance at Dean and Parvati, who was standing a good few metres away from them. It was a miracle indeed that they haven't noticed the piercing stares, though Dean did take a few quick, wary glances earlier.
"I couldn't care less." Harry grunted, turning sickly pale. "I just don't want to meet that old bat. I had enough of her intrusion during the summer break."
"Same here." Surprisingly, Draco said in agreement. Hermione turned to look at him, and raised a brow. She didn't expect for the only heir of the Malfoy family to be quite reluctant about being in the headlines. It was surprising enough for her to witness Ron doing so during the summer break, and now Malfoy. The wizarding world that she once know was definitely changing a lot now.
Draco sniggered once he noticed the look on Hermione's face. She rolled her eyes in return, but secretly glad that he was back to his usual self. She was thankful that he said nothing when they met this morning, showing no sign that he was there to witness her least presentable, and vulnerable condition last night.
"Next." roared Filch, and they quickly scrambled to pass the grumpy caretaker. They were not going to give him any reason to detain any of them any longer than necessary. Especially not today.
"Where are we heading first?" Neville asked in a cheerful tone, almost skipping in his steps. It had been such a long time since he last been to Hogsmeade, and he was determined to make the best of it.
Draco quirked his brows. "Who said anything about us going together, Longbottom?"
"Malfoy-" Hermione began.
"I'm taking you to the Twilfitt and Tatting's, Granger." Draco rolled his eyes. "You're going to be a Malfoy soon, so you might want to leave all of those cheap rubbish behind. Malfoy always gets the best." Then, he smirked with a malicious glint in his eyes. "So, I doubt Weasley and Longbottom can afford that."
Ron and Neville instantly turned scarlet in the face.
"That's my fiance you're talking about, Draco." Pansy interrupted with a bored look. She had her arms folded against her chest as she held her head high and flipped her hair. "Parkinson always gets the best too, and I have more than enough gold to buy him the whole store."
Draco snorted derisively, but said nothing. Blaise skidded into a halt in front of them, somehow managed to escape his fiery redheaded fiancée.
"Well said, my dear." He clapped slowly with an approving grin. "Merlin knows how painful it is for my eyes to watch my own fiancée wearing those hideous Muggle clothes. Oh, the horror." He dramatically placed a hand on his forehead, closing his eyes with a feigned painful look.
"Nothing can beat the horror of watching your ruddy face, you git."
"Ginevra!" said Blaise in surprise, his voice going a tad bit higher than usual. "Where did you come from, love? I didn't see you there."
Ginny just rolled her eyes, skipping to Hermione's side instead.
"Well then, let's go and spend some golds. It's their golds after all." Ginny shrugged while sending a shrewd look at the males. Blaise gulped, already foreseeing his decreasing fortune.
"Little help here, mate." Blaise looked up to the Weasley boys, who in turn just laughed in his face. Nobody was stupid enough to mess with the youngest Weasley when she had a funny look like that.
"That's Ginevra Weasley for you, mate." Fred patted Blaise on the back with a dramatic sigh. "Come, Cho. Let's watch George and Daphne getting it on in the Shrieking Shack." Cho rolled her eyes as she accepted Fred's outstretched hand, grimacing at the rest no second later. They quickly disappeared into the direction where George and Daphne had disappeared earlier on.
"Let's go, Harry." Astoria quietly tugged Harry to the High Street before disappearing into the Gladrad Wizardwear. ("Oi, take this jittery Longbottom with you!" shouted Draco, which earned him a mocking smile from Astoria just before the witch entered the store.)
"Now, what?"
"I say, let's just leave Longbottom here, and get going." Blaise chirped in.
Ginny instinctively punched his arm. "One more word, and I swear I shall personally kick you out of our chamber."
"I'll take him." Tracey suddenly appeared unnoticed behind them, shrugging when they shot a look of surprise at her. "He's my fiancé after all, and we're supposed to behave, right?"
"What am I, a ruddy item now?" Neville grumbled lowly under his breath, but relented as he allowed her to pull him away. The rest was left gaping in their wake, staring at each other while shrugging. No doubt, just as clueless as each other. Draco quickly took the opportunity to grab Hermione, and pulled her in the direction of the Hogsmeade branch of Twilfitt and Tatting's. He was fully aware of the rest trailing after them, but chose to ignore it. Instead, he huffed loudly at the look on Hermione's face as they stepped into the store.
"You'd think I was throwing you into a sea of Devil's Snare." He clicked his tongue in disapproval, and shook his head.
Hermione's scrunched up face loosened up almost immediately, fading into a guilty smile. But, her tongue still instinctively ran over her bottom lip in anxiety as her eyes raked over the displayed clothes. One look at a magenta dress robe nearby almost made her fainted on the spot once her eyes caught sight of the dangling price tag. It was definitely going to be quite a task to get used to despite Draco's obvious insistence.
"Sweet Merlin," Ginny whistled in appreciation, leaving a frowning Blaise at the front door. But, not before running her finger across his chest with a mocking seductive smile. "Brace yourself, love." She chuckled darkly, and trotted to the welcoming shop assistant.
"I like her." Pansy commented as she appeared next to Blaise, pointing at the Gryffindor witch while laughing at Blaise's frowning face. "She's funny."
Blaise huffed. "Oh, yes, very witty."
Pansy just laughed in response before dragging Ron along towards another waiting assistant.
"Alright there, Blaise?" said Draco without looking. He was busy picking random clothes instead, tossing it into the growing pile in the poor assistant's arms before Hermione was shooed along with the assistant. They disappeared into the back room just as Draco turned with a raised brow towards the Italian wizard.
"I don't know, mate." said Blaise, trailing after Ginny's back when she also disappeared into the back room. "This is still a bloody madness if you ask me. Just a few months before we were fighting on the opposite side, and now we are like star-crossed lovers with an abrupt happy ending." He crossed the room in a few large strides towards Draco, and settled on one of the chairs.
Draco suddenly let out a sigh as he lowered himself next to Blaise. Running a hand through his white locks, his eyes were fixed on the ground with an indescribable expression. Blaise waited patiently in silence. He had a feeling something was troubling the latter, and he knew he will confide in him whenever he was ready.
"It got worse." Draco finally muttered in a voice barely above a whisper. There was a slight hysterical edge in his tone while he stared absently at his shoes.
Blaise scanned their surroundings in one swift, quick motion. After making sure both of their fiancée were nowhere to be seen, and Pansy was too busy wrestling her own fiancé into a bright lime dress robe, he leaned closer while placing one arm around Draco's shoulder. He lowered his voice, and tried to speak as low as possible.
"It it oldy voldy? Or, is it that one bloody deranged aunt of yours?"
"The latter I supposed." murmured Draco. "She was thrashing around in her bed last night, screaming her head off about something we-as in her and her ruddy best mates-found. Reckon it was most probably the bloody sword." Draco cupped his face with his hands, essentially hiding his face behind it. "The mass breakout news must have been the triggering point."
"Did you tried-"
"Everything I can think of, but I haven't tried the potion. She was this close of waking up the whole castle with her screaming, so I had to give up, and just wake her up."
"Why don't you just slip it into her juice or something?"
Draco shook his head defiantly. "I can't do that to her. I swear to myself that I would never let anyone from my family hurt her ever again."
"Mate, it won't hurt-"
"No!"
Blaise sighed, and leaned back against his chair. He stared at the back of Draco's hunched body, feeling his sympathy bursting out for the latter. It was on the first night after they were assigned their respective chamber when Draco suddenly burst into his chamber in the middle of the night, face stained with unshed tears. He quickly rushed to check on Ginny's sleeping figure, making extra sure she was really deep in slumber. When he finally returned to his room, he was surprised to find Draco sitting on his bed with a blank look, almost as if a Dementor had administered its fatal kiss to him. It took him a good few minutes to snap him back into reality before he witnessed Draco's usual snarky self crumbled right before his eyes.
It was the first time he had ever seen the pained look on Draco's pale face. It was as if the last few months in the Malfoy Manor were flashing in his eyes at the moment. He gulped, not knowing what to do until Draco himself willingly opened up to him at last. As he suspected, Draco couldn't bear it. Despite spending the last seven years tormenting the know-it-all Muggle-born, guilt was coursing through his vein ever since he witnessed the witch tormented by his own aunt. He was reaching his limit when it happened, and the scene became engraved in his mind forever. Then, he heard it. Hermione's tortured whimpering in her sleep. That was all it took for him to lose it, and he ended up in Blaise's chamber before he even realised where his feet was taking him.
"You can't possibly keep on torturing yourself like this." said Blaise at last, very gently. "I know it's killing you from the inside every time you hear her. You should coax her into taking the potion for dreamless sleep. It will benefit both of you. No more nightmares for her, and no more mental breakdown for you. Win-win situation, alright?"
"There has to be another way-"
"There isn't one, Draco!" Blaise snapped in frustration. "You know better than I do that there is no other way than this. Stop deluding yourself. What are you hoping to gain from this? Her forgiveness?" Unwillingly, Draco looked up when he heard footsteps nearing him.
"I swear you're trying to kill me." Hermione was holding out the pile of clothes to the assistant, her face twisted at a weird angle as if the clothes was contaminated with life-threatening germs. "What's next, sweetheart?"
Draco chuckled before rising to his feet. He dusted his robes slightly, and pointed at a secluded section at the far corner of the store. Allowing Hermione to walk ahead of him with the guide from the shop assistant, he turned slightly, and looked over his shoulder.
"Maybe," said Draco vaguely. "If that's what it takes, I'll take whatever it is, Blaise." Then, he was off to join Hermione.
"Git." Blaise muttered under his breath.
An abrupt movement next to him immediately made him turn to face the intruder, coming face to face with no other than Ginevra Weasley. (Ginevra Zabini soon, which instantly made him shudder.) She raised a brow, crossing her legs while placing her head on her propped elbow.
"Badmouthing your own best mate now, huh?" She chuckled, and shrugged. Then, she stood up abruptly, and pulled him as well. "Well, ditching them won't be as bad then. Come, love."
~~X~~
"Sweet Salazar, Ginevra," shrieked Blaise with comically widened eyes. "That's hideous!"
Cackling almost hysterically, Ginny tossed the colourful garment to him. "It suits you well." She grabbed another one, and tossed it right into Blaise's open arms. "They'd bring out the colour in your eyes just fine."
Blaise rolled his eyes. "Real funny."
He wandered off, and picked up an equally colourful garment for ladies. He smirked as he tossed it to Ginny. Thanks to her years of Quidditch training, she expertly caught it despite having her attention momentarily distracted just moments ago. She raised it to her eye-level, inspecting the skimpy garment.
"What in the name of Merlin is this?" She quickly held it at arm's length, glaring at it in distaste.
"An early wedding present from me." He sauntered to where she was standing, purposely leaning closer so he was able to whisper in her ear. "For our wedding night." He made extra sure for it to come out as explicitly as possible, causing Ginny to yelp, and dropped the garment in an instant. She quickly pushed his chest, and scrambled to distance herself from him.
"Perverted git." muttered Ginny, but there was a hint of a smile on her face for a split second.
Blaise was already doubled up in laughter. Ginny simply ignored him as she continued her shopping spree since he showed no sign of stopping any sooner. That was until he suddenly saw something that made him halted his laughter in a flash. He nudged Ginny absently, eyes fixed on something outside of the clothing store.
"What?" Ginny hissed, refusing to turn around at first. However, the constant tugging from him grew annoying, and she was forced to turn just for the sake of earning her peace. "What - I don't see anything, you foul git-"
"Look."
He was pointing at something at a distance, and it was hard to identify at first. But then, Ginny's gasp confirmed that she finally managed to recognize the outline of two rushed figures. Their gaze met each other, mirroring their confusion.
"D'you reckon—"
"Come on." Ginny was already pulling him to the door before he even got to finish his words. They carefully trailed after the two figures, concealing themselves when needed. It finally led them to the Hog's Head bar, where the two figures disappeared into the dingy pub. Instead of following them inside though, they remained concealed behind a tall pillar.
"What are they doing here?"
"No idea." Blaise scratched the back of his head. "I thought they are supposed to be in the Hospital Wing for a week." The cease between his furrowed brows deepened at the thought.
"Exactly so how did they get into Hogsmeade—"
"Hi, Ginny." said a dreamy voice from behind them. Blaise let out a high-pitched squeal, and jumped in surprise while Ginny merely whipped her head around with a smile. Luna was standing there with her waist-length, dirty blonde hair pulled into a ponytail, her wand behind her left ear while she peered at them through her long lashes with polite interest. "Am I interrupting something?" She blurted out bluntly.
"Obviously." Another voice said, and from behind Luna came Theodore Nott with a bored look. He had his hands stuffed deeply into his pocket, and a ghost of a smile passed across his face as he spotted Blaise sprawled over the ground. "You look comfortable."
"You look happy!" Blaise snapped back, struggling to sit up. "What are you doing with Loo—Lovegood anyway?" He gave a sheepish smile as Ginny sent a death glare in his direction.
"Oh, we are heading to the post office when we saw you." Luna replied before Theo managed to open his mouth. He shrugged afterwards, nodding his head slightly to acknowledge her words.
"Basically, he's stuck because of that old bat, Rita Skeeter." Blaise stated matter-of-factly while dusting his robes after he finally succeed in getting to his feet with Ginny's help.
"Speaking of the devil, there she is." Theo had already pulled Luna into the Hog's Head bar by the time they turned to look at the older witch. In their panic, Blaise and Ginny also hurriedly went after them, wanting nothing more than to avoid the insufferable witch.
Thankfully, nobody paid much attention when they entered. They scurried across the small room, and managed a table right behind a group of hooded wizards. Blaise and Ginny glanced around warily, in search of the two figures they had been trailing after earlier, but they were nowhere to be seen. Though puzzled, they brushed it off dismissively.
"I hate this Marriage Law." said Theo, but his voice was drowned out by the voices coming from the hooded wizards. The wizards were speaking in a hushed conversation, but they were able to catch most of the conversation because of the close distance. One particular mention of the Slytherin house instantly caught their attention.
"—we need to find it before someone else does!"
"I told you, it's not in the castle!" The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but they were unable to put a finger on it because the owner was hissing in a low voice. "Give us some more time!"
"No! We already wasted so much, especially with the Marriage Law in the way."
"Yeah, who knows what that Slytherin brats have been telling the so-called Chosen One." Blaise and Theo instinctively pointed at themselves, almost questioningly.
"I reckon Rosier has been busy around the castle." A quieter voice interrupted.
"He sure does."
"Well, we need the book, and the girl if possible."
"I told you, give us some more time!" The familiar voice snapped back. "It's already hard enough without you breathing down our neck. Now, if you may excuse us!"
All of them instantly widened their eyes once the owner of the voice rose from his seat, and made a move to head to the door. Ginny stared in realization that the two figures earlier were actually seated among the hooded wizards, hidden from view because of their slumped posture. They exchanged a look with each other, shock clearly evident on their face. Blaise and Theo let out a low hiss, fuming with the betrayal.
"Crabbe!"
"Bulstrode!"