Sent Diligo

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.


Thanks to Mistress of the Red Kiwi, mysteriouscharm, trapped-in-a-dream, Song of the Rain, Antanaqui and guilty until proven innocent for reviewing!

Mistress of the Red Kiwi: lol! glad to hear it!

mysteriouscharm: that last chapter was a bit confusing, yeah. Hopefully it'll all be explained in this chapter. If not, just say so and I'll try and clarify it.


From Chapter Eleven:

Harry shrugged. "I don't know," he said, reaching for his scar, which was still bleeding. It stung. His scar never hurt so much it bled before. And he had an image come into his mind for a split second, but he didn't even get to see what it was. It went away too fast. What was going on?

"Potter! Ten points from Gryffendor for disrupting my class! Now get back to your cauldron! That's twenty points you lost for Gryffendor today, and class is not even over yet!" Snape snapped as he walked by.


Chapter Twelve: Turning Back

Draco closed his eyes, his hand gripping over his wound, kneeling on the floor. What had happened? The memory of the slit eyes haunted him, sending shivers up his spine. He gasped in pain as another wave washed over his side. He winced, attempting to stand.

With one hand clutching his wound and the other pushing himself off the ground, he felt weak. He gritted his teeth as he wildly reached to grab anything for support, landing on a rose thorn. "Bloody hell!" he yelled. Why was he cursed like this? First he was slashed, and then he was stabbed. Cursed twice in one day.

No, a voice in the back of his head said cautiously. Thrice. The curse of the potion, used on your parents… The voice drifted away. Draco was in too much pain to think about the voice and pushed it to the back of his head. He didn't give a piece of crap on what the voice had to say. He only cared about his current state, which, might he remind that stupid voice, was bleeding.

The voice tried again. Cursed… parents… doing your bidding… Draco didn't hear it, trying hopelessly to get up, the pain from his side aching more every time he tried. He wouldn't call for help; he had his pride. He didn't even think where that red-eyed snake creature would go after attacking him. He thought about what he looked like, nearly laughing aloud. He guessed his position would be rather embarrassing. It was lucky that no one was out to see him, despite the openly bleeding wound.

Thinking about humility, he remembered the previous year when he had been turned into a ferret. Dammit, he thought, the moon dance never was the same since. Leave it to some loony moody professor to ruin a perfectly good activity. He shook his head, sparking the pain in his side again, bringing him out from his memories. His mind wandered back to his position. Even though he needed someone to come out and help him, he was glad that no one could see him. He would be humiliated.

No one could see his state.

No one – especially Hermione.

No, he didn't need to become a wannabe when he was with her. He just didn't want her to see him weak and defenseless. Whenever he was away from her, he just thought of ways to please her, but when he met her, he melted inside and couldn't carry on his act. He just couldn't become someone he wasn't, no matter how hard she tried, and she still loved him. He loved her more for that.

But where was she now? Chances were that she was safe in her room. But why had the creature attacked? Him, of all people? Worry creased into his heart. He was afraid for her. He would die for her, but he couldn't. He was slowly bleeding to death now, with her no where in sight. With a sudden determination, he got the strength to rise.

He remembered the curse. His parents were forced to obey him when he learned of the curse. Was that why he never heard of it before? He didn't care, though. He had to find Hermione, but he couldn't get up. He was ashamed to call out, though, and the place was deserted. What could he do?

Something clicked inside his mind. With a slow smirk appearing on his face, he called out into the empty space.

"Father! Mother!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione backed up into the tree trunk. "Defluo! Aeguer! Err, Obliviate! No, no…" she murmured, saying spells, but with the lack of wand and the inability to do wandless magic had no affect upon the creature that was advancing on her. It was cloaked black like a dementor, but it crawled on four legs rather than gliding over to the victim. "Deficio!" she tried yet again. "Verruciate!" Nothing happened. The creature only continued crawling over towards her.

"No, no, no," Hermione said, her hands slapping her pockets, not believing that she had left her wand in her bedroom. "No way in Merlin… no…" She shook her head fearfully, her arms waving about helplessly. She cried out for help, but her voice caught in her throat. The creature lunged, sinking its nails into her flesh. She yelled out in pain, tears springing to her eyes.

It struck again. The first claw slashed her arms. The second claw slashed her legs. She layed crumpled on the floor against the dead leaves as the creature continued scratching her skin away. She moaned in pain, her eyes shut tight, tears of pain squeezing between her lids and falling on the dry leaves.

It slashed her back and stomach. She cried out in pain. She was immobilized, white hot pain searing across her body as blood freely poured from her wounds, burning and consuming her. She lost all sense of thought, her brain numb. She just laid there, helpless, as the creature struck once more, slashing her face, and scampered away.

Minutes passed by, seeming like hours. She couldn't tell time. She just waited, unable to do anything but remain still. Breathing became a problem. She began to pant as it was harder and harder for her to receive a decent amount of oxygen…

And she hurled. She spat out the lumpy feeling in her mouth, then closed her eyes, too weak to do anything else. She was too close to losing consciousness, she wasn't even aware of the silent footsteps that gently walked towards her from behind. The person layed one hand on her forehead and cleaned off some of her wounds with a simple "Scourgify." He smoothed her hair, despite its filth, bending over her, murmuring, "Adflatio Eximo." The pain that echoed throughout her body was lifted. Hermione looked up at Draco and smiled, and he smiled back.

He handed her a piece of wood. "Thought you might need this," he said as she took her wand from him.

"Thanks." She murmured a simple self-healing spell that was able to remove some of the small wounds. Her clothes were still torn in tatters, her hair matted in filth. Draco offered her a hand. She took it as he helped her stand up.

She looked up at him. "I thought that whoever was after me would have sent something after you, too," she said quietly.

"They did… but I should give you credit. If no one had ever told me of that curse, then…" He broke off. Hermione nodded in understanding. He turned his head to look at her, a smile playing at his lips. He leaned forward and enveloped her in a passionate kiss.

They broke off, gazing each other solemnly in the eye. A smile flickered on Hermione's lips. "Should we head back now?" she asked softly.

Draco smiled. "Yes."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was queer – there wasn't another word to describe it. They had left the town empty and returned to find the town filled with people with their everyday business. Hermione wandered off to the lake and sat by a random bush. She looked around the scenery and noticed a girl around her age sitting beneath the great oak.

"Luna?" Hermione said, caught off guard. The girl looked strangely at her and stood up. She, too, resembled Luna in every way possible, both the dreamy look and her overall appearance.

"My lady," she said, curtsying, though it was clear through her eyes she was somewhere far out. "I am Simissa Patronism," she said dreamily. "My sister wishes to speak with you."

"Sister?" Hermione repeated, thoroughly confused. Simissa nodded.

"You know her – Cassandra Woodlicks, husband of Alór Woodlicks?" she said, adding the last name unnecessarily. Hermione nodded.

"Why, yes, of course!" she lied. She felt someone behind her as the hairs on the nape of her neck stood up. Simissa seemed to notice him.

"You can come, too, I'm sure Mother would be pleased for a noble bachelor to visit," she said in her far-off voice. Hermione turned her head around and saw Draco standing behind her. He wrinkled his nose but nodded as Simissa led the way to her isolated mansion.

"My father always liked the peace and serenity that isolationism gave him," she said dreamily as she walked towards the mansion. "I agree with him. My mother, though, is rather social person and prefers to live close to the community. I adopted her looks but my father's personality. Cassandra is quite the opposite." She trudged through the trees and tall grasses. "Mother always wanted to put a path up here, for people who don't know the land very well often get lost. Father prefers it to remain this way, though. He doesn't want any unwanted visitors, but Mother said that they couldn't have any wanted visitors, either. Always in a quarrel." Simissa finally stopped talking in her dreamy voice as they reached the great double doors of her mansion.

Simissa knocked on the cherry oak doors. Almost immediately, two butlers in matching black and white uniforms opened the doors. She walked in and Hermione and Draco followed suit. She appeared to wander aimlessly as she walked towards the lounge. When she entered, she curtsied. "Hello, Father, Mother."

In the room seated on two large comfortable-looking chairs were apparently Simissa's parents. The father had a dark wavy brown hair with sharp features, having the same protuberant eyes that Simissa had, while the mother had straight dirty blonde hair with softer features. They nodded, acknowledging her presence. "And who do you have with you?" the mother asked.

"Lady Allyran Liakke and Sir Eroquin Shimforth," Simissa introduced as each of them stepped forward. Her father nodded gruffly, but her mother gazed interestedly at him.

"I recall, a bit of trouble at the alter?" she asked, clearly amused.

"Err…" Draco began, but Simissa's mother gave off a delightful laughter interrupted him. At that moment, two more people entered – Simissa's sister, Cassandra, and her husband Amór. Hermione could see where Cassandra was like her father. They had the same hair and features, but her eyes made her seem like a different person. Instead of the solemn, bulging eyes that her father had, she held her mother's eyes.

"Hello, Father, Mother," she greeted in the same way that Simissa did. Amór nodded at each one of them. Cassandra's eyes wandered around the room and they fell upon Draco. She gasped and did a double-take, suddenly giggling, batting her lashes flirtatiously. Amór's eyebrows furrowed as Draco's went up in surprise. Hermione's eyebrows were raised, trying to keep the laughter inside of her. Cassandra's parents' eyebrows furrowed in disapproval, and Simissa was just being her normal self.

Hermione's hand rose to cover her mouth as she tried to stifle the laugh that was threatening to come out. A married woman was blushing furiously over a bachelor didn't seem appropriate those days. Seeing the looks on her parents' faces, she guessed that it wasn't appropriate. But still, beneath the laughter, she felt uncomfortable and angry. But… she had no reason to feel jealous, did she?

She shook her head as Simissa's parents looked over embarrassedly at Draco. "We're sorry, we don't know what got into her," her mother said hurriedly, her cheeks red in humiliation. "If you want to, you may go." Hermione could see that the mother really wanted them to go to spare her from more shame. Noticing that Draco was about to respond, she spoke up before he could.

Nodding, she said, "Well, okay… have a nice day." She smiled at them and dragged Draco out before he could say anything, then stopping short as they reached the yard.

With the trees and the misleading paths, it would be rather difficult to get out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Harry was in the hospital wing, trying to tell Madame Pomfrey that he was okay. "There's nothing, really, it was probably just the fumes from the potion we were working on. I think I added too much mucous…"

Scowling, Madame Pomfrey shook her head. "Be quiet for a moment! We could at least stop the bleeding!"

"But it's not bleeding anymore. It doesn't even hurt," Harry said. It was true; the pain had stopped a little while after it stopped bleeding.

Madame Pomfrey scolded, checking his scar, realizing it did stop bleeding. Sighing in exasperation, "Alright, Potter, you may go." Harry nodded and murmured a small thanks and racing out of the wing.

In the Great Hall, Ron anxiously waited for Harry, suddenly bombarding him with questions. "Are you okay, Harry? It never started bleeding before – maybe I should ask Dad, he's a Ministry official…" Ron said.

"No, no, Ron, I'm okay, it's probably just a reaction to the potion," Harry said hurriedly.

"You sure?"

Harry nodded. Ron looked doubtful, shrugging. "After you were gone, Snape took off about a hundred points."

"What? Why?" Harry asked furiously.

"I think he's just sore that Malfoy's gone. It's a big improvement, actually. Why does he like some Death Eater's son, anyways? Malfoy's just as bad as one…" Ron's complaints disintegrated into grumbles.

Harry sighed, rubbing his temples. "You didn't say that to Snape's face, did you?" When he didn't hear a response, Harry turned his head over to look at Ron. He was grumbling somewhat loudly, purposely trying to ignore Harry by doing his Transfiguration homework, his ears a bright red.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Wearily looking across the humongous yard, they worried about getting lost. An awkward silence hung between them. Hermione glanced nervously between Draco and the 'forest.' "Err…" she said, looking up at Draco. "Should we go back?" He grunted and shrugged, turning back towards the house. Hermione followed him. They knocked on the double doors, but no one came to collect them. They knocked again, but no one paid heed to the knocking and opened the doors. They waited in an unnerving silence.

Finally frustrated, Hermione banged on the doors, yelling. No one responded to her calls or slams. "Try the door," Draco suggested. Hermione glared at him and pulled the door open. It was unlocked. Shrugging, she went inside. It was like it was earlier, but there was no one there. No butlers that bustled the place, none of the Patronisms nor the Woodlicks. Despite the cleanliness of everything, Hermione would've believed no one lived in this house if she had not been in there five minutes earlier to find it full of people.

"Where'd they go?" Hermione asked quietly. "They can't all go out to town in a matter of five minutes without magic and they certainly are not wizards or witches." Draco shrugged.

"Well… maybe things are changing," he suggested lightly.

"Changing?" Hermione repeated, close to laughing. "The most change we've had around here was the century – " She stopped short as a possibility dawned on her. Slowly, she said, "So you mean that… maybe… we might be going back in time?" Draco shrugged.

"It's only an idea."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Snape strolled down the corridor, frowning. He spotted Harry and Ron walking down the corridor, talking to each other. Smirking to himself, he quietly slid behind them. "Potter, Weasley," he said coldly, giving them both a jump.

They turned around. "Yes, Professor Snape?" Harry said.

"The Headmaster wishes to see you two," Snape said slowly, eyeing them with distaste. "Follow me." He turned sharply on his heel and Harry and Ron had no choice but to follow him.

When they reached the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore smiled at them merrily. "Sit down," he said, pointing to the chairs that aligned his office, McGonnagal already sitting on one. "Lemon drop?" They shook their heads no. Dumbledore sighed in exasperation. "I ask every visit and yet they decline…" he said wearily, shaking his head, going into a long history of lemon drop offerings.

"Err, professor?" Harry asked. "What did you call us here for?"

Dumbledore stopped short from his count of declined lemon drop offers. "We've been able to locate the place already, bring them to the present time, and now, we're on the verge of bringing them back." Ron stared at him, confused.

"There? Them? Who?" Ron asked blankly. Harry nudged him hard in the ribs. "Ow – Harry – " he began, but stopped when he realized what he was talking about. "Ohh! You mean Pentalis and Hermione and Malfoy!" he proclaimed ingeniously. Harry and Snape rolled their eyes with Snape mumbling something about big fat dungheads. Ron scowled at him.

"Yes, how nice of you to join us, Ron," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. "Expect them back in a matter of days to weeks. No more than two months, likely. Now, that is all I have to say. Good day!" The four of them left the office, heading in their own direction.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well, I expect we'd be back in Pentalis within a matter of days or weeks, no more than two months, if my assumptions are correct, of course," Hermione said bossily, cutting her way through the tall grasses, weeds, trees, bushes, flowers… (you get the picture). "They've probably already located the place – that's the laser beam that shot Xionis down, I read all about beams of light, of course, you should read Exclusive Magical Light Beams by Wanda Wilson, it's really fascinating, of course – and when the way of talk and clothing changed, we were brought to the millennium, of course, so now everything's slowly fading away from this world, and we'll be all alone to ourselves, and then Pentalis will turn into Hogwarts, and – I just know it! It all fits!" Hermione cried aloud. (A/N: yes, I know that was a very long sentence, but…) "It's like what Carmen Coldwell wrote about in History of Trapped Time Travel. Parry Jones was sent back in time and he was stuck, so when they got him out, there was a laser beam, the time zone changed, and things started disappearing! And then – "

Draco rolled his eyes at Hermione's incessant babbling. He grabbed Hermione by the shoulder. "What – " she began, but she was never given the opportunity to finish. He gently pressed his lips against her and brought her into a passionate kiss. Startled at first, Hermione began to relax and returned the kiss, melting into his arms, her own arms snaking around his neck. They broke apart for oxygen, a slight blush forming on Hermione's cheeks.

"Do you only do that to shut me up?" she asked, scolding at him. Smirking, Draco didn't reply. Hermione rolled her eyes and bonked him on the head, smiling. He scowled at her and slapped the back of her head playfully. Hermione laughed, but she stopped when she thought of Hogwarts.

"Draco?" she asked.

"Mmm?" he mumbled, too lazy to open his mouth to speak.

She sighed. "Are we… a couple?" she asked. Draco stared at her, not responding for the longest time. Finally, he sighed, leaning against one of the many trees in the Patronism yard. He ran a hand through his hair.

"I would hope so," he replied darkly. Hermione smiled weakly.

"But at Hogwarts…?" she asked.

He turned to look at her. "Do you want us to be?"

Flustered, Hermione said, "Yes, of course, but – "

"What would I say? What others would say?" he finished for her. Hermione nodded. He smiled slightly. "We can have it private at first, until you're ready… until we're ready… together." Hermione smiled back.

"So you promise you won't cheat on me? Especially with that Parkinson slut?" Hermione said playfully.

"Well, what about you and your lovely Weasel king?" Draco asked.

Hermione smiled slightly. "If we're going to do this, you can't call my friends names. You'll have to be on a truce with them… and vice versa." Draco thought about it.

"Truce?" he repeated.

"Truce," she confirmed. He nodded, a smirk on his face, as they shook on it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

They were walking down the corridor when Harry suddenly stopped. "Harry?" Ron asked. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Harry said, "but you know our original plan? To try and make Draco good so that he won't abuse his power?" Ron nodded. "Well, I was thinking. What if they… well, you know… err…" Harry struggled to say it, but Ron, as dense as he may be on some occasions, stayed on the sidelines, helpless. "Like, what if they… start to share a… a feeling… a bond… with each other?" Ron just stared blankly at Harry. "You know, like, err… what if they… fall… in… love?" There. He'd finally said it.

Ron just stood staring at him, then burst out laughing. "Harry!" he croaked. "This is 'Mione and Malfoy we're talking about! I mean, come on!"

Harry's palms began to sweat. "No, seriously, Ron. When you're stuck with a person for a certain amount of time and you have to work together to figure out what's going on – and you know, the play and everything? That's bound to have an affect on them, how they would feel. I mean, the play's based on turning hate into love, and they're trapped in the play for real, so what if they actually… turn their hate into love?"

Ron stopped laughing. "And we can't blame it on them because we're the one that landed them there in the first place," he reasoned. Harry nodded. "I'm going to pound that bloody ferret's face in!"

Harry sighed, exasperated. This wasn't the direction he was going for. "No, like, we can't do that, because if we didn't do that to them, they wouldn't be in a relationship in the first place! So we can't kill them for our mistakes! Just like, should we just accept it, or – "

Ron interrupted Harry. "Let's get this straight for once and for all, all right? It was your idea, and you made me carry it out for the Order. I didn't want to do it, so I can do whatever I bloody want to!" Ron said angrily, then turning around, storming in the other direction.

Harry watched him go. "No – Ron – wait!" he called after him, but with no success. He sighed, leaning against the wall, rubbing his temples. Their trio was now broken – one furious and broke it off, the other with the 'enemy' and in some Lalaland. Yeah, this was rich. Could things get any worse?

"Hiya, Harry!" said an all too familiar voice. Snap! A flash of light nearly blinded Harry.

Yup, it could.


(A/N:) I know I just came back from a camp, but this weekend I have to go to another 3-day camp. Lol. After that, only one more camp… I really don't want to go to this camp, plus it's about 6 hours away, but I hope you enjoy this chapter anyways! Lol.

Anyways, as you can probably see, this story is coming to a close… probably just a few more chapters and that's it, unless my calculations are like totally off, which may be likely. XD And since Draco's curse doesn't play a large part in this story, I'm really planning to write a sequel. It'll be kind of different, a little more dark. Like Draco abuses his power and betrays Hermione to become the next Voldemort, and the world is in chaos, and no one can stop him, so they all turn to Hermione who has to win his heart back and make him good again. And Hermione's all devastated 'cuz he broke her heart and tortured her with his new rule. (Is it just me, or does this kinda sound a bit Star Wars-ish?) So review and tell me what you think! XD Thanks.