Chapter 33
"Harry. Ron. Come and look at these books! I've never been in this shop before, come on!" groaned Hermione, trying (and failing) to drag the boys away from the newly opened Quality Quidditch Supplies. Some bright spark had decided that just targeting quidditch fanatics in their school holidays wasn't enough, so had decided to open a shop here for them to waste their time ogling brooms in!
"Not now Hermione. New Firebolt"
"Yeah, we'll catch up with you in a minute" They shouted back to her, without removing their gaze from the shop window.
"Boys!" muttered Hermione, before continuing on her (short) path to the old bookshop.
She reached the window and stood transfixed by volumes upon volumes of books that she could see stretching far back into the dark recesses of the shop. As she looked more closely, Hermione was able to read some of the tittles of the books. She could tell at a glance that these were the kind of books that one would not find in Hogwarts' library, not even in the restricted section! Hermione scanned the titles, examples such as "How to Hex to Hell" and "Subconscious Submission" ("a guide to magical mental manipulation, how to change peoples mind without them even realising!") caught her eye.
She became so transfixed that she didn't even hear footsteps creeping towards her, in fact she didn't even notice a tall blond man standing behind her. She didn't notice until a strong, muscular arm slipped around her waist.
Hermione let out a squeal, "Harry! You scared me!" she stopped abruptly as she turned to see the smirking face of Lucius Malfoy glaring back at her.
"Miss Granger, nice to see you again, although I must say, you look much better without your clothes" he whispered in his aristocratic voice, his face now inches from hers. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek, she could smell his expensive, masculine cologne, she could feel the sense of power emanating from him, and she hated it all.
"Piss off" she growled, fighting to keep her voice strong and the tears from her eyes.
"Face of an angel, mouth of a sailor! If I didn't know you better Granger, I'd be surprised" he hissed. He then lowered his lips to hers, as she struggled fruitlessly against him. He stopped just short of her lips, and breathed:
"but as you and I both know I know you very, very…intimately indeed" He pulled her closer still, and as he kissed her, he ran his hands over her back, bringing one to rest in the small of her back, before he harshly began kneading it, making her arch in towards him. The other found its way to her bottom. Hermione still tried in vain to push him away, quickly realising that the more she struggled, the more he enjoyed it. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Hermione managed to free her lips from the kiss
"HELP!" was all she could cry before one of Lucius' hands clamped securely on her mouth. Thankfully, that was all that was necessary, as Harry and Ron who were standing no more then two hundred yards away, turned from the quidditch shop window, instantly recognising her scream.
The boys quickly sped towards Malfoy and Hermione. "You Bastard" could be heard (undoubtedly from the mouths of both boys) as Ron grabbed Malfoy squarely by the shoulders and yanked him off Hermione, before quickly punching him full on in the nose (which he most probably broke). Harry spat viciously at Malfoy before rushing to comfort Hermione who was now sobbing hysterically.
Ron somehow forced Malfoy to the ground, and gave him a few good kicks, whilst cursing him vehemently, Harry joined him in the latter activity. Harry held the crying Hermione in his arms, he mouthed over her shoulder one word to Ron, its meaning excruciatingly clear:
"Tonight"
The two boys practically carried Hermione back to the castle. She had calmed down slightly, but was now alternating between apologising profusely, and threatening them, that if they did anything stupid on her account and got themselves hurt, she would kill them. At this particular threat Harry and Ron exchanged nervous glanced, but remained steadfast in their resolution that she must be avenged. They took Hermione to her dormitory and proceeded from there to Dumbledore's office. They had given the gargoyle the password, climbed the spiral circular staircase, and were now knocking on the large oak doors.
"Enter" they heard the familiar voice of Albus Dumbledore say. As they entered, they saw Dumbledore, Sirius, Snape, Remus and McGonagal sitting around the large circular table which had been placed into the middle of the room, this table was normally only used for order or staff meetings.
"What is it boys? What's wrong?" questioned Dumbledore urgently upon seeing the looks on their faces
"Hermione" said Harry, in that second, the worst fears of the adults seemed to be confirmed- Snape had warned of retaliatory attacks- but surely not this soon?
"What's happened to her?" asked Sirius, the urgency in his gruff voice clearly noticeable, "Where is she?"
"Don't worry, she's safe" said Ron, suddenly realising what might have been going through the others' minds.
"She's in her dormitory now, we just got back from Hogsmeade, we, no she, bumped into Lucius Malfoy. Actually, he more or less grabbed her and tried to… well… feel her up, the Bastard. Oh sorry professor" Harry added as he received a stern glance from McGonagal. Sirius seemed angrier about the event then Harry's Language:
"And you two let him?" He practically yelled, of anything Harry might have expected off his God-father, it certainly wasn't blame!
"We weren't there!" said Harry, trying to remain calm.
"Why the Hell not?" h roared. "Please tell me Harry, please tell me, that you had more sense then to leave her on her own on her first time in a public place since the bloody attack, just hours after you found out about it, knowing, knowing that the death eaters want revenge, to hurt her because she managed to escape! Please tell me Harry, and you too Ron, please tell me that you had more sense then that!" He finished, slamming his fists down on the table, fury blazing in his eyes.
"We...we… she wandered off, she was within shouting distance, and, well, we thought there was no one about, we thought…"
"You let her wander off into a deserted street no less! Jesus! You two really have surpassed yourselves this time!" Said Sirius, cutting off Ron mid-explanation.
"Sirius! Really, it's not the boy's fault!" said McGonagal, "They couldn't possibly have known, and judging by the fact that Hermione is now safe in her dormitory, I'm guessing that these two young men had a hand in saving her?" She turned to Harry and Ron and gave them a questioning look.
"Well, yeah I suppose we gave Malfoy a good kicking" said Ron, and noting the shocked expression on McGonagal's face he added "What? He deserved it!" To his surprise, McGonagall gave a hint of a nod as if condoning his actions.
"Headmaster, may I go and speak with Miss Granger?" asked Snape, speaking for the first time since the boys had entered the room.
"I don't see why not Severus. Minerva," he added turning to McGonagall, "Will you please accompany him? After all, there is no need to arouse suspicion, as sending the head of Slytherin house to check on a Gryffindor student surely would." McGonagall agreed, and she and Snape left the room together.
"Professor" asked Harry, speaking to Dumbledore, "Is it alright if Ron and I go back into Hogsmeade, we've got a few things that we still need to get?"
"I see no reason why not. Just make sure you're back before curfew"
Both boys left the office and made their way towards the entrance hall, and to Hogsmeade. Their plan was now well and truly in action…
A/N: he he he, another cliffy! It's so much fun to be evil. Apologies, I did send this one off to be better, but it wasn't back in time, so I thought an un-proofed update would be better then no update. Anyways, thank you for your continued support, it really is very, very much appreciated. Thank you to:
lee74, Mai Gamit, creepiness, Katie, Phelpslover Darkraven-04 Avestia, kbluesmom, runaway mental patient, Rane2920072,Emz, acdenerd, queenbeth2, Zaralya, GabreilsGirl, acid green quill, Sailor Hermy, facefood, PeleAmelika, muggle mom, Nerdy Sunny, Danfan, SiriuslyPadfoot'sGal, xxsnufflesgirlxx, ghypsceestargazer starluver, chibi-mairi, Paris97, Shyngr8, lunastar-03, Jadein, NicksterPotter, Shoe Malfoy, cookiedoughicecream, Orenjinoneko, Damia queen of the gypsi's, Outlawed, emikae, potato heaven, marauding-siriusly, BlackRaven 32(aka WordNerd), Helen, the Contessa, dannen, Crazy-Psycho, xMaverickf14x, Luna87, CharmedLeoLvr, Londyn Weasley, alora55, Padfootsmine (I remembered!), Kimmi/enchanting freak, ann, me(I think, not sure what your review was meant to mean), European chick, NeVeRmInD2, sosweet22, 14 fizzing whizbees, leosqueen, callmequeen, Highlandcoo, SpiffySquirrel, Katie O'Brian, alssyia, Faye 8222, Scottie, someonelse, hannahslattery, and Kyra4.
