YAY! I'm back in the game guys and I'm better than ever. Thanks to Carrie(anonymous), terratasha, dracoNmione, and everyone who was kind enough to offer a solution to my seemingly sotry-ending problem. Thank all so much, it's only with your help that I was able to continue with this.
Chapter 35: A Day Or Two of Solitude
Over the next few days, Draco saw just how wrong he could be about Hermione. She said not one single word to him unless it was school or arithmancy related and she almost refused to look at him. He had no idea how much her demeanor could change and now that he saw it… well, he didn't like being ignored before and now… Now he hated it…
"So is it a banshee or woodork?" Draco asked Hermione who shrugged and pointed to his book. "Right… the old textbook." He sighed, looking forlornly down at the moldy pages of his Herbology book. It was of little matter that he was not in Herbology at all, but in potions.
"Have you been practicing the spell?" Draco asked quietly and Hermione gave him the dirtiest look he was sure she could muster.
"Don't you say a word about that in here." She hissed. "Snape's not exactly a stranger to overhearing conversations that are none of his business, you know." Hermione spat.
"Snape's cool…" Draco said with a smirk. He was on a roll. For a second he wondered why on earth he was enjoying this so much but then he was suddenly reminded of the kind of Slytherin he was. The Malfoy kind. He used to eat little Gryffindor firsties for breakfast and beat the hell out of the older ones for the accompanying entertainment. It was no wonder that this little bit of torture held so much joy for him, after all, it had been a while since he had felt the urge to satisfy this less savory part of his personality and he doubted she would prefer for him to save it for the ickle firsties...
"So, are you going to answer or will I be left to wonder until you blast me to pieces?" He asked and Hermione's lips tightened in discomfort. Good… she was still nervous about using the spell… at least she didn't want to kill him.
"You're getting some sick pleasure out of this aren't you?" She asked and Draco thought about it for a moment then nodded.
"All I want out of the whole deal is a few civil words here, maybe a kiss there." He said with a smile and Hermione, though she wasn't exactly mad, only glared, letting the corners of her mouth twitch. He was getting somewhere.
"Well if you aren't the same arrogant little ferret-"
"Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, would you like to carry out the rest of your conversation in detention or hold your tongues until you are safely out of range of my ears?" Snape's sardonic voice was quiet but ever syllable left them shivering and Draco leaned back carelessly and closed his Herbology book. "I'll take this," He said, snappishly slamming it shut with one hand. "You can get it after NEWT's."
"But I have to study!" Draco protested loudly and Snape shrugged as if the matter were beyond his control.
"I am sure, Mr. Malfoy, that you have more than one friend whom can loan you a book or at least stand to be in your company long enough to make sure you understand the mediocre art of Herbology." Snape gave a quick tap on the desk and decided to add a last, stinging comment. "If you're worried about Herbology Mr. Malfoy, I would suggest that you not bother taking NEWT's at all." Snape paused, placing the book in his robes. "However, potions should be your main focus considering the grading scale. You all must remember that the grade you get on that test affects twenty percent of your overall potions grade- Longbottom! Pay attention! You of all people, writing…" And Snape walked the other direction spouting off about irresponsibility, incompetence, and worst of all clumsiness. Draco almost felt sorry for the poor klutz… Almost.
Draco walked into his dorm utterly exhausted but paused suddenly as soon as he entered. There was a boy on his bed and it sure as hell wasn't Draco. He had dark, wavy hair that would have fallen past his shoulders had it not been held in place by a small, intricately designed band. His eyes were dark and gave him one look before returning to the magazine he held loosely in his hands.
Draco started towards him angrily. "Who the hell do-"
"Draco!" Hermione exclaimed as she bustled into the room, blankets and pillows in her hands. She pointed her wand at an area in the corner and uttered something and a bed appeared. After she enchanted the sheets to tidy themselves she turned back to face Draco, a competitive look on her face.
"How the hell did you get in here?" He asked and Hermione shrugged holding a pair of oddly shaped keys in her hands.
"Dumbledore gave me the keys." She explained, looking nervously to the moron in his bed. "You will be sharing a dorm with a visitor who it seems, had a little problem with his time turner."
"The hell I will be. Why can't he and Weaselby share a bedroom?" He asked, throwing his bag down.
"Because, it seems that Dumbledore thinks you and he have more compatible personalities. As it turns out, his house is the equivalent of the Indian Slytherin." Hermione explained.
"Indian?" Draco asked and Hermione nodded.
"His school learns apparation fairly early and they all use time turners to get to their classes and when he used it and was stranded, her figured he could apparate properly. Though he thought he knew what he was doing… he was unpleasantly surprised by ending up here at Hogwarts." Hermione said and Draco was shocked at how calm she seemed, almost excited. "His name is Daniel Wright, I guess his mother was European and he's a sixth year, just like us. He speaks limited English and… please be nice, Draco." Suddenly Draco realized why she went rambling off about his background. She was hoping if he knew a bit about the kid, he would like him.
"He won't be bunking with me. Let him sleep in your room and you and I can share this one." Draco suggested semiseriously and Hermione's frowned deepened into a glare. "That's a no…"
"Dumbledore knew you would be apprehensive-"
"Apprehensive? I flat out refuse-"
"So, he's offering either extra-credit or money, take your pick." Draco could tell by the tone of her voice that his choice mattered to her just as much as it mattered to Dumbledore but for a very different reason.
"Don't you try to bribe me! What do you think I am? A politician?" Draco asked and Hermione smiled a bit, her face borderline between worry and hopefulness and Draco felt the urge to deny the Indian kid just to wipe that look of her face but the other part of Draco, the one that seemed to dominate him as of late would not allow it. "Fine! I'll take the freaking idiot. Now get out!"
"Do you want to study Herbology later?" Hermione asked as she reached the door and Draco was taken aback. So… good deeds didn't go unrewarded? I'll store that little tidbit for later…
"You bet…"
"What about you Daniel?" Hermione asked and the boy looked up from his odd magazine and smiled, nodding.
"Hermione-"
"It's settled, out in the common room at eight tonight. If Daniel doesn't show up, I'll assume it's murder." Hermione added so only Draco could hear and he growled under his breath.
"You can be so…"
"I know Draco, I know. Life is so hard for the little rich boys sometimes…" She said and that comment shut him up.
"You little-"
"Bye then!" and Hermione closed the door, laughing to herself all the way to her room.
"So… you're name is Daniel?" Draco asked and the kid didn't even look at him. "Do you have a nice family?" He asked and again there was no response. "Do you understand English?" Draco asked, slower this time.
"Yes, I do. Now can you shut up and let me read. I don't talk to American wizards, you disgust me." Draco almost laugh until he realized the little git was completely serious.
"I'm insulted." Draco said, placing a hand on his chest in feigned hurt. "I'm not American… I was born and raised in Western Europe. I'm a proud brit."
"You sound American." But when Draco tried to reply, the boy held up his hand to silence him, an honest look of utter disgust on his face and for the first time in Draco's life, he imagined he knew what it felt like to be a mudblood…
"Do you learn different spells in India?" Hermione asked, leaning over the table. She was very interested in this foreign wizard and Draco could tell the foreign wizard was very interested in her.
"Yes… But mostly, they, uhh… they do same things. We learn to fly but not on brooms." He paused. "I see you have very nice… facilities (slaughtering the word)."
"Yes, we English pride ourselves in doing the best we can… So… what kind of wand do you have?" Hermione asked and Daniel groped in his robe pockets.
"Here it is. 13… uhh… inches and two sanimeters… right?" Hermione nodded. "The wood is… cedar? Imported from Germany."
"What is the core?" She asked and he smirked.
"Our cores in India are very… meaningful. Many of the creatures we have in India are…"
"Precious?" Hermione suggested.
"Secret." Draco interrupted and Daniel nodded, throwing Draco an unappreciated glare.
"I see. Is it an animal?" Hermione asked.
"What don't you understand, Hermione?" Draco asked. "Stop giving the poor kid the third degree. He's already told you he doesn't want to tell you-"
"I would be delighted to let you know, Ermine." Daniel said smoothly. "This is very… private information that I only share with… uhh… those who are very special." He paused. "It is also a ritual at our schools. When we propose to our loved ones we exchange that… uhh… secret as a… sort of… vow."
"What a charming ritual!" Hermione said, clapping her hands and Draco's mind was going crazy. This kid was driving him crazy. Hermione was driving him crazy. What a charming ritual!
The more Hermione found out about Daniel, the more interested she became. It turns out he wasn't as far close in time as she was led to believe. Daniel was born in 1897 and when she asked him how he could be so calm about what the future looked like he answered, "My people have had the gift of time travel for many thousands of years, you think this is the first time anyone has seen this? I myself have been in this time twice and I've gone further than you can imagine."
"Isn't that dangerous, to see the future?" She asked.
"I know what to expect and if that is dangerous, then nothing is as safe as it seems…"
"Okay, so you are not American." Daniel admitted with a loud sigh and Draco laughed triumphantly and shut his book entitled The Malfoy Heritage, a compilation of facts about one of history's most notorious pureblooded wizarding families. "You are still arrogant and obnoxious. I don't see how Ermine puts up with your constant… uh… sarcasm."
"First of all, it's Her-Mi-O-Ne." Draco said, enunciating on every syllable. "Second off, I would have to say you're not exactly the easiest guy to get along with yourself. What's this thing you've got against Americans? They may be stupid but what'd they ever do to you?"
"They just… they are… uhh… disgusting." Daniel said. "They pollute the world with their ideas of freedom and democracy and their offspring are…"
"Let me guess… Disgusting?" Daniel nodded.
"I used to know an American." Draco said. "She was the exact opposite of what you just described-" But Daniel would have none of it.
"Don't defend them to me. You are wasting your breath."
"And now I can see that."
Later that night as Draco sat in the library reading over the final translation of the new spell, he pondered over what Daniel said and it truly bothered and frustrated him. What kind of dogmatic beliefs that kid had! How could something on so large a scale be so… black and white. Pureblooded and impure-blooded? Asked Draco's mind. So that was what was bothering him subconsciously?
"There is a big difference… I mean werewolves!" Not werewolves, a werewolf. His mind replied. And the man himself has not been at all unkind to you… "He's a vicious animal!" Draco justified. No… he's both man and beast but the only side you have seen is man and Hermione has seen both and it should say something to you about the man if she is still defending him… Maybe you owe Lupin a bit more respect than you have shown… Maybe Lupin can be both man and beast and still be a good wizard…"Fine! You win…" and that all came from your own mind!
"Stop bragging…" He said to himself but inwardly he was thinking very important thoughts…I think I owe someone an apology…
"I'm sorry." Draco coughed and Remus Lupin was actually surprised, no- more like shocked.
"For what?" He asked a lot more calm than he actually was.
"I haven't been very kind to you…" Draco muttered. "And I realize and respect what kind of courage it must have taken you to show up at Hogwarts for the third time and still be so… even headed."
Had that really come from a Malfoy's mouth? It certainly reeked of Slytherin mockery, maybe even Malfoy trickery. Then again… Lupin had been apprised of a certain odd situation at Hogwarts from Harry… It turns out that Miss Granger has had quite the influence over Mr. Malfoy over the past few months… "Did Hermione put you up to this?" He asked, letting his paranoia reach a sickening point.
"No… she doesn't even know I'm here… nor is it any of her business." He made sure to add, disgust in his voice and Lupin smiled. So the rumors were true…
"Then I thank you for this little visit and I hope you will be more… teachable." Lupin said with a smile. "Say, is that time turner boy from India classing up with Slytherins or Gryffindors? I heard from a very reliable source that you and this boy have taken quite well to one another…"
"Hermione?" Draco asked and Lupin gave a shrug that answered his question. "Yeah… I think rooming with him is enough. He eats like a pig, snores like one, and I swear, if I didn't make him shower, he would opt not to…" Draco said and Lupin chuckled. "He had never even used a tooth brush before I couldn't stand it any longer and conjured one up for him." Draco sighed, leaning comfortably against Lupin's desk. "I swear! I don't know how those bloody historical people survived without proper hygiene. I mean honestly! How they avoided diseases and extinction is beyond me…"
The room went silent and suddenly the comfortable turned very tense…
"I should be headed up to the library. NEWTS are near…" Draco said and Lupin nodded.
"Next week right?" Draco groaned while nodding and Lupin laughed. "Have fun, good luck, and thank you Mr. Malfoy. I could do with another ally."
"You could do with a thousand more, I say." Draco said seriously and Lupin nodded.
"Don't I know it…"
Draco was the first one done in the hall and as he raised his hand and Snape came from the staff table and picking up his paper he looked over it with a skeptical eye.
"Very good Mr. Malfoy… Very good. I'm glad you remembered that lesson. It was short but I warned you… Yes…" And Snape walked off in the other direction looking very pleased indeed.
"If only he knew the trouble I went through to learn that potions book from front to back…" He sighed and lay his head down. One more test and then NEWT's would be over and they could all relax…
Draco's eyes wandered across the great hall and settled on whom he would bet was doing the best of the three Gryffindor greats. Hermione was nervous, he could tell by the was she was using her left foot to slip of her right shoe then push it back on. By the way she was biting her lip and squinting her eyes as if the answers were inscribed on the paper and all she needed to do was look hard enough…
Draco smiled… he wondered what nervous habits he had. Many people had told him he picked at lint or bit on the end of his quill but he never realized he was doing it and so he never caught himself in the act. Suddenly he was struck by quite the odd question. Had Hermione noticed any of these things? If she had, she had never mentioned it… except for once.
Forcing his eyes away (for fear of burning a hole in the back of her head) Draco refocused his eyes upon the staff table though he admitted the people at that table were far less easy on the eyes than Hermione. He followed the table all the way to the end where he saw Daniel sitting. He was still reading that same magazine and when Draco had brought it up to him he had replied, "I am learning more English from this than any other thing in this school can teach me so let me be!" And he'd throw something, hitting Draco one out of four times usually.
An hour later, the last test was collected and they were set free for the rest of the afternoon.
"Hey Hermione." He said, catching up to her as a quick pace and Hermione turned, waving to Daniel over his shoulder. "Are we ready?" He asked.
"Are we?" Draco nodded. "Hey Daniel, want to see something magnificent before you go back to your India?" Hermione asked, a fond smile on her face. Daniel nodded and saw the look of adoration in the young Indian's eyes. "Follow us to the forbidden forest-"
"Hermione! He can't come!" Draco exclaimed.
"Oh Draco! Why not?" Hermione asked and Daniel seemed genuinely intrigued.
"Hey co-pilot! Over there so we may convene privately." Draco spat and Hermione nodded, crossed her arms over her chest, and followed.
"First of all I don't think you understand the seriousness of this thing we've done. We could not only be expelled for this but… WE COULD DIE! WE COULD GET ARRESTED!" Draco paused, calming down at seeing the look of fear and anger on Hermione's face. "And besides that, he's from a different time… what if he took the spell back to then and set a whole domino effect in motion?"
"Maybe Voldemort wouldn't have risen to power, Harry and Neville would have their parents, and you wouldn't be so damn miserable." Hermione replied.
"So you have put thought into this… How do I explain this?" He asked his voice trailing off. "You can't just change what you want to change. Hell, maybe Harry's mother would have married someone else and Harry wouldn't exist. Maybe the Weasley's wouldn't have had a cause to fight for and so they stayed the raw Hufflepuffs I've seen them as and… Maybe you wouldn't have had a reason to talk to me at all. You see? Is it worth it to lose all this that we have? I mean… it's not grand but… it's all we have. This is life."
"That curse is the worst thing to happen to wizarding kind and you're arguing with me about ending the torture and death two centuries early?" Hermione asked.
"Yes… Because you don't know what will happen and for all we know, someone will find a more horrific spell to use in place of it." Hermione nodded, accepting defeat. "Now are you ready or do you want to wait?"
"What good will it do to wait?" Hermione looked over to Daniel and Draco practically read her mind.
"We don't want to be followed. "She nodded. "I know a spell." Hermione nodded again and five minutes later, they were on the edge of the forbidden forest and positive Daniel had no way of finding them.
"All right… Now I'm going to coax you to make you angry and hateful towards me." He paused. "If this goes badly I want you to do and say whatever you can to get out of trouble all right? Say it was self-defense, I was attacking you…" He asked and she nodded, tears filling her eyes. "Don't cry! Don't be weak. Maybe it's the mudblood in you or maybe it's that Harry Potter was in you, the little coward. You know what? Screw this whole lying thing… Let's take it to the next step… make it real." Draco said and Hermione pulled her wand from her pocket.
"Come on baby, come and get it. All right… I'll come to you." Draco's face took on an odd expression and Hermione was shocked, this seemed so real. He looked ready to devour her… "I saw you in that skirt the other day and I think you're so fuckable that I could fuck you now and no one could hear you scream. And we're alone and everything. You would say I did it to you and I would say we did it together and considering that everyone thinks you're a slut… who will they believe?"
Hermione began too tremble… this was too real, brought back too many memories. It was utterly terrifying to see that feral, hungry, animal like look in his eyes and Hermione found herself growing hot. She felt her pulse pumping through her veins. Who was he to speak to her like this? Who did he think he was?
"Hermione, you might as well just lay down and open your legs… it's going to happen sooner or later, with your consent or without it." Draco gave a small laugh that sent chills up her spine. "Or maybe you need Harry… or Ron here to get you in the mood. I saw your picture once in one of those tabloid magazines. Pictures of you with Ron… and Harry." Draco said. "My father was disgusted, so was my mother but I… Let's just say I grew a bit more fond of you in your little skirt and knickers." He smiled evilly. "I thought of sending a couple copies to your family… in fact… I still have them, I wonder what dear old grandmother would say.
"Stop it Draco!" Hermione shouted.
"Stop it Draco!" He mocked and Hermione began to scream like she had never screamed before. But Draco kept going.
"Shut up! Shut up! I don't want to hear anymore." She yelled.
"Then shut me up, Hermione. Shut me up and shut me down before I get to you because once I do… I wont stop. I'll do things to you that you'll never forget. What I'll do first is-"
"I swear to god Draco," She began. "If you utter one more word, I will have you laying at my feet." She finished, pointing her wand straight at his heart.
"Do it Hermione. Once I get to you I won't stop… I won't stop and you'll never forget that all of it happened because you were a filthy little mudblood coward. Now stop me…" Hermione held her wand steady and felt the words forming. "I see you want it… Okay… I'm going to fuck you into oblivion-"
"Avada Kadavra!" The words roared off her tongue and the clearing echoed in reverberation. She heard Draco shout something in response but the clearing was filled with such a great, bright, green light that she couldn't see. And once it was gone, she fell to her knees. Draco was on the ground sprawled face-first not breathing. "Oh my god!" She yelled, crawling over to him. "I didn't mean it… Oh my god Draco! I swear I didn't mean it."
She sat back on her butt and pulled Draco's dead, lifeless body into her arms and cradled his motionless head. Sobbing so hard that her rib cage ached and threatened to explode, Hermione did not see his eye lids flutter nor see his mouth move.
"Did it work?" He asked and Hermione stopped sobbing, looked at him, looked through him, then began sobbing all over again.
Once she was settled, Draco tried to comfort her. "You! I though I had killed you!" She shouted. "Why didn't you give me some kind of sign?"
"I didn't know what was happening… I wasn't even breathing as far as either of us knew but now…" His voice faded off and Hermione's face broke into a smile.
"We did it!" They shouted and Hermione lunged at him, knocking him backwards while kissing his forehead, eyes, nose and mouth all at once, so glad that he was alive, that he was still breathing, that he was still here to kiss her back. "We did it!" And thus ended one of the worst, yet best days of both of their lives…
(A/N:If it was hard for you to read... imagine how hard it was for me to write. I should let you know (if you haven't caught on) that Draco had to make her really hate him because otherwise, the spell wouldn't have worked. He said all of that to make her hate him and what better way to make granger hate you than attacking her innocence, the thing she prides herself on the most... I hope you like it even if it is a bit vulagr and please dont report me for abuse... this is completely symbolic, the language used was for effect and I apologize if you were offended... Understand that it is very important to the chapter and I don't want my story to be R rated because it's not and everyone always assumes that R rated fics are... well, quite frankly smut... but its not... thank you all sooooooo much... I should sign off before I get carpal tunnel!)