Monsters in the Eye of Monsters

OH! I am so terribly, horribly, excruciatingly sorry! I am fully aware that I haven't updated any of my stories for a MONTH! This is a crime, both to you readers and to myself. I swore I wouldn't be one of those people who hang up on stories like that. A crime, I say!

I hope this works as a Band-Aid on your mental wounds:

Chapter Twenty-One

"That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard!" exclaimed Hermione, still slightly shaken up after seeing the Pheralius curse displayed as a gaping wound in Malfoy's stomach.

Ron, who's cheeks were ghastly white and withheld a tint of green, said, "I think it's brilliant," His sky-blue eyes locked with Hermione's and he stated plainly, "I mean, it is risky, but what other chance will we get?"

With a nervous nod, Harry sighed, "In the end, everything we do will be risky. I say we take the chance and dearly hope Malfoy isn't the traitorous, little brat we all know he is,"

Only a few feet behind them, Malfoy stood, balancing from one foot to another impatiently. He snorted loudly, "You know I can hear you!"

Hermione was about to hurl back a sarcastic comment at him, but a hard glance from Ron made her bite it back. With a snarl, she peered at the white-haired Slytherin with disgust. On cue, his eyes captured hers in an intense glare before he casually strolled to their little gathering. As a friend, he wrapped one arm around Ron's frail shoulders and another around Hermione. She shuddered uncomfortably as Malfoy said, "In my opinion, I think we should go with my admirable plan. It's fool-proof–" he patted Ron on the shoulder, "–excellent and of course, just as marvellous as the maker himself,"

"…high on himself," she heard Ron mutter, his cheeks sparkled with pale freckles under his narrowed eyes. If Hermione had to guess, she'd say he was beyond repulsed by the fact that Draco Malfoy had his arm draped around his shoulders so casually.

Harry said, "What about you tell us, in detail, how we are going to get to Vol – You-Know-Who without being seen, and much less noticed?"

Malfoy let out a snort, and wetted his lips, "Polyjuice,"

Ron furrowed his brows, "Polyjuice?"

"Polyjuice."

Harry's expression softened, "That may actually work! You're not as stupid as you look, Malfoy, that much you can have,"

Cocking her head, Hermione asked, "What's Polyjuice? Some sort of drink?"

With a crooked smile, Ron gladly answered, delighted that Malfoy's hand had slid away from around his shoulders, "Polyjuice is a potion that, with only a small amount of a person's hair, skin or other identifiable part, can make you look like said person for an hour,"

Hermione's eyebrows rose and with an astonishing glance at Harry exclaimed, "That's amazing!"

Ron beamed proudly. He sent an occasional glance at her, assuring himself that she was still smiling.

"Now, if you two love birds could only stop flirting, we'd actually make progress in this conversation," Malfoy said, a cruel grin plastered across his sickly white face.

Ron and Hermione immediately looked at each other, before they pulled their gazes away and turned a strong shade of tomato red. From her side vision, she swore that Ron's ears were red as traffic lights, but brushed it off when she felt the heat in her own cheeks. She thanked God that her loose, brown curls covered up the colour in a carpet of brown. She cursed Harry when still laughter echoed in her ears.

Malfoy snapped his long fingers, "Now, back in business, folks,"

Weakly, Ron muttered, "Bloody dodgy blighter,"

Without lifting an eyebrow, he replied rudely, "Big words, Weasley, for such a little brain. Didn't think you knew that many words, you who didn't have enough money to afford even second-hand school books?"

Ron gritted his teeth, a ravenous expression on his face. Malfoy's sneer flickered and Harry said coolly, "You're gambling with life, Malfoy. We could have killed you and you are still defenceless against all of us. I suggest you to be careful with what you say,"

Malfoy snorted, "We all know I am essential to you defeating the Dark Lord. You wouldn't dare, Potter,"

A minute of tense silence passed. Malfoy's sneer decreased from being self-confident and cocky to end up as a weak shell of a façade. He knew that, deep down, the outcome would be most beneficial to him if he played along. Hermione could read it on his face like an open book.

"Malfoy," Hermione said, "Tell us about the plan,"

"Firstly," he said smugly, "it will blow your socks off,"

"That's not what I meant, so please, be a little more cooperative,"

Malfoy sized her up, but immediately crumbled in front of her when she brought up his wand and suggestively checked how bendable it was. Ron snorted at his pathetic reaction and Hermione smiled victoriously as he backed away and lifted his hands defensively. She definitely wanted to break his wand in two if he didn't begin talking soon.

"One year ago, I couldn't even picture myself here plotting against the Dark Lord," he mused. Hermione growled irritated. Malfoy's eyes bulged before his voice pitched and he said, "Okay, okay, okay. Weasley, can you please put your dog in a collar before it attacks me?"

Instantly, Ron's ears went blood red. He snarled at Malfoy's bleak expression, "Talk. Now."

With a frown, Ron moved closer to Hermione and with a dark glare at Malfoy asked her for his wand. His fingers touched hers before he snapped the wand out of her hand. He gripped it tightly and opened his palm. The dark wooden stick laid calmly over the long scar embedded in his palm. A spark of curiosity ignited in Hermione, and she reminded herself to ask how he got it later.

Harry took a few steps forward and out of his wand, dazzling white sparks seemed to emit. Ron still wore a mask of cold fury, Malfoy's wand laying unprotected and in the open in his hand. The seriousness of his situation looked like it had dawned on Malfoy, as he paled and he finally got to the point.

"The resurrection is going to be held in the Ministry building, in… Mother is going to kill me for telling you,"

"But?" Harry pointed out.

"It's in their secret floor," Ron's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. Malfoy brushed it off before continuing, "I know, Weasley. The Ministry officials that were sent to inspect everybody's houses were simply too stupid to notice the heavily enchanted floor in their very own building,"

He laughed quietly at himself. Hermione was beginning to doubt his sanity.

"To get into the protected part of the wing, we'll have to solve personally chosen riddles by the Dark Lord himself. I have never been there, and only a few trusted Death Eaters are allowed in, so we'll have to brew the potion with the hairs of the chosen few. Which means, we'll have to corner Greyback, Yaxley and two more of the most dangerous, malicious and insane killers throughout wizarding history,"

He let the words sink in. The silence made Hermione play with the hem of her orange sweater in a nervous, unnerved way. Her eyes flickered over to Harry, whose expression looked hopeless and lost. He still had his wand pointed at Malfoy's chest, but the insecurity was showing in the form of uncontrolled shaking in his aching arm. Ron, on the other hand, was frustrated and furious with the blonde prat. Hermione herself was no better, feeling exhausted after too many eventful days and emotional trauma.

"Lucky for you," Malfoy smirked, "Before I ran away, I did what should have been done,"

"What?" Hermione asked, "What did you do?"

"I stole the hairs, of course!"

She had never seen Ron's face change quicker. From the angered, ugly look he'd wore, in the span of a split second, he was now shining with happiness. She couldn't help but feel his warm smile's joy spread into her bones and make her bubble with excitement. His smile was wide and askew as always, a dimple appearing in his freckled cheek. His baby-blue eyes sparkled and she wanted to cry at his sudden adorable radiation.

Hermione wanted to hug him so bad it sent a shrill down her spine just thinking about it.

As fast as the sudden need had appeared, Ron's hand was suddenly in contact with hers. In the moment, Hermione felt herself dazzled with surprise and confusion. The warmth from his soft skin seeped into her cold hand and she realized she liked the feeling of him being close. In the blink of an eye, the moment was ripped apart and he handed her Malfoy's wand. Before his hand slipped out of their embrace, she was torn between clutching it or not, before it was too late and she was left with the coldness of the dark wood. Disappointed, she felt like Ron had taken with him a shred of her passion.

Harry nodded approvingly, "Do we still have the bag?" Hermione broke out of her daze and peered at him questioningly. He elaborated, "We had all the potion ingredients in that bag. Do we have it?"

Malfoy sighed, "Have you lost all faith in me already?"

Harry deadpanned, "We never had faith in you in the first place, Ferret,"

"Well, if you had, then perhaps I would've shared my widely assorted Potion Brew Set with you, but seen as we aren't on the same terms, I will take my potion set and leave," he began walking in a random direction in absolute silence, his nose stuck in the air arrogantly.

"Malfoy, wait," he ignored Harry's request and continued strolling at a moderate pace in the direction of an old and battered tree. His two friends glared at him and Harry sighed, "Malfoy, we need you,"

Immediately, he spun around with a smirk that screamed victory, "What did you say again?"

Harry said through gritted teeth, "I'm not going to repeat myself,"

Ron grinned from ear to ear before he said sternly, "For your information, Malfoy, we don't have plenty of time,"

The process of potion brewing that followed was something Hermione didn't quite understand. First there were the abnormal ingredients – like Bezoar and Acromantula Venom. Then, there were the extraordinary methods of brewing. If brewing potions was so easy that if you stirred the potion five times to the left, why hadn't some poor, oblivious Muggle come over the recipe for a Wizarding potion?

After a hair-raising argument, a mind-blowing ingredients list and a lot of stirring, the Polyjuice Potion was ready and parted into four different bottles.

Just thinking about drinking the substance made Hermione want to gag. The liquid – if the thick, uneven mess could be called a liquid – was a green-grey colour and had large lumps in it. Overall, it resembled the type of mud that you don't want to step into.

"And we are supposed to drink that?" she squealed, turning the bottle upside down and watched the mess slowly work its way down the glass, leaving a trail of brown slime.

"It looks quite nasty, but it's not ready yet," Ron said, "You have to add the hairs,"

Hermione shot him a disgusted look.

Malfoy proceeded by pulling out a small, yellowed envelope from his pocket. In a swift motion, he suddenly dropped a hair into each bottle. She swallowed nervously as the long, blonde hair melted into the repulsing potion.

Ron put a hand on her shoulder, his warmth spreading into her entire body, and especially in her pink cheeks, "Don't worry. If you're lucky, the hair will make it taste better,"

Hermione faked a shudder, "Lord help me, this shall be my end,"

He didn't remove his hand from her shoulder and this time, she didn't fake the nervous shiver. Ron met her nervous gaze and as if burnt, his eyes flickered insecurely to Harry. Hermione's world became a tad brighter when she realized the faint hint of red on his cheeks was a blush.

The feeling of delight almost overwhelmed the sense of nausea she got from looking at the revolting potions. Keyword: almost.

Ron's hand suddenly slid away from her and she turned around. He smiled proudly and waved at his portion of disgusting mud, "See, the colour has changed,"

Hermione cocked her head and looked down at her own bottle, first now noticing the change of colour in her own. While Ron's purple potion was bubbling like soda, hers had turned white as snow. When she gripped the glass, the potion radiated a sickly warmth.

She had to force herself to lift it and with a tense smile, Ron and Hermione said in unison, "Cheers!"

End Notes

Again, I cannot excuse myself too much for this crime! I am indescribably sorry, but I sincerely hope this chapter makes it up to you. Five pages with dialogue and I'm sorry for the boring filler chapter.

For all the followers to this story: Thank you for reading! I'd be incredibly nice if you would take the time to leave a review! It doesn't matter whether it's a long or short review, but I'd like to get some feedback on what I do good, and what I have potential to work with. Thank you beforehand!

To all my wonderful reviewers: Thank you so, so much! It means so much to me that you take the time to review my story! You're amazing – all of you! Keep on being good humans and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

To me, this chapter felt very Out Of Character (OOC). What do you think?

(Coming Up Next: Romione!)