Chapter 52 Utter shock
Disclaimer: Nothing you don't know already…you know the drill. No claim on any Harry Potter characters!
"Harry get up, Hermione and Draco must already be in the Great hall …come on" Ron's voice cut through the mush in Harry's brain. For a minute he sat with a blank expression and then jumped as the events of the last night and the days before came rushing back.
"The Gringotts break in…it's going to be in the Prophet right?" he asked with a grimace as Ron nodded grimly. "Better be prepared for the onslaught mate" he warned. Harry groaned "Maybe we should ask Dobby to get us some breakfast here" he said with hope in his eyes.
"Hermione will kill us first and ask questions later. You really don't want to leave Draco to face that alone. Geez! I still can't wrap my head around her and Draco together. Talk of weird!. Anyway, that girl can get very scary, you know that. Now come on. ..I am hungry" Ron grumbled. Harry got up reluctantly and dressed in record time wondering if the whispers in the hall were going to go up as he entered.
But when they entered the great hall it was not quite what they had envisioned. They were the least bit prepared for the scene that met their eyes. The hall seemed to be shrouded in total and absolute silence, something no one had quite experienced in Hogwarts. No one seemed to even register their entrance for a change. While it was a relief for Harry, it also made his antenna go up. This was not normal Hogwarts behaviour, in fact it was quite the opposite.
Almost automatically they turned to Hermione for some clue as to what was going on but all they found was extreme anguish and tears in her eyes. It only increased their alarm as they turned to Draco and saw the same emotion mirrored in his body language.
He was sitting as though carved from stone and Harry was sure that his nails were digging into his palms the way his fist was clenched. He was looking down at his table and his whole body was taut as a bow.
"What the bloody hell is going on?" Ron's voice echoed in the hall as everyone turned in his direction. Harry caught him by the arm and swiftly went to Hermione's side. "What the heck is going on?" Ron repeated as Hermione handed the Daily Prophet to him mutely.
When they read the headlines, their jaws dropped and Harry was hardly aware of drawing his wand and shouting "the bastard". All he knew was that his blood was boiling as the words "Lucius Malfoy names another as heir" screamed at him. He vaguely noted that the teachers had not objected to his very objectionable language, not that Harry would have ever apologised for this.
He quickly read through the article and felt sick. A mixture of disgust and rage coursed through him as the article went on to read that Lucius Malfoy had named Theodore Nott as his heir following the disowning of his biological son Draco Malfoy. His eyes unconsciously snapped to look at Draco in time to see him get to his feet and walk out of the hall. At the same instant he saw the smug look on Theodore Nott's face as Ron mumbled "the sick son of a …."
Harry, Ron and Hermione immediately followed Draco with Ron grumbling under his breath "A man can't even have a decent breakfast in this place" but he was silenced under the glare of Harry and Hermione as they raced to catch up with Draco.
They caught up to him in the middle of the hallway as Hermione held his wrist and called softly "Draco wait". Draco turned to them and they were taken aback by the simmering rage, hurt and anguish and a slew of other emotions on his face. His voice came out harsh and thick with suppressed tears "not here Hermione…I need to be alone…Please".
Hermione nodded "I understand, come" she said and guided him into an empty classroom where Harry immediately proceeded to put up silencing charms. He then motioned for Ron to step outside the classroom and proceeded to do the same. "Harry?" Ron asked bemused but Harry simply shrugged "I wouldn't want anyone around me if I were him Ron. He wouldn't want anyone to see him like this…Hermione maybe, because she has become part of him but not anyone else. This is Draco…remember that Ron" he said and Ron nodded to show that he understood.
"Yeah but how can anyone do this to their own son? I can imagine how he feels…well not fully obviously but somewhat. I mean, even I am still not out of shock and to name Nott of all people" he exhaled. "What can we do Harry?..to help I mean? This is just sick" he said unable to get over what he had read.
"I don't know Ron but one thing I know for sure is that Nott is going to cause trouble. He is going to go for Draco now and I have a feeling that there is more to this than what we are seeing. Somehow I can't imagine Lucius Malfoy lowering himself to the level of Nott without an ulterior motive" Harry said heavily. Ron looked thoughtful as he mulled over this new angle. Really, they had enough going on without Lucius Malfoy showing his hand.
Harry for his part, felt a new surge of hate for the death eater and wondered yet again how a father could torture his own son so much. His heart went out to the ex-Slytherin and he wowed that he would keep a close watch on his rival-turned- friend.
Meanwhile, inside the classroom it was a very vulnerable Draco that was slumped into a chair. He had his face in his hands and his shoulders were shaking with suppressed sobs. Hermione knelt by his side and slowly laid a hand on his shoulder. She could hear his voice breaking as the words tumbled out full of pain and sorrow "How could he do this Mione?"He raged. "He replaced me just like that…is that all I am to him? He threw me away like a used object and he bought himself a new son" he sneered with bitter sarcasm before his voice became shadowed with sorrow once again.
"Did I not matter even just a little bit?" he lamented as his voice dipped to a whisper. He then lifted his head and looked at Hermione. Hermione was startled to see the faraway look in his eyes for a moment before it was replaced by unmitigated hurt and fury as he roared "for heaven's sake I am his son". The room rippled with his magic as raw emotion overtook him and tears coursed freely down his face.
Hermione took him in her arms as he buried his face in her lap and they sunk to the floor. He was hunched over her lap and Hermione smoothed his hair as she murmured "I am sorry Draco…I am so sorry" over and over again, her own voice thick with emotion. There was nothing she could do in this situation except offer her support.
She held him tenderly and running her hands over his head as he cried himself out. It was a long time when his sobs finally subsided and he lifted red rimmed eyes and blotchy skin to look at her blankly.
"I am sorry Hermione…" he said as he slowly regained his composure and asked "so what next?". Hermione smoothed back his hair and wiped away the moisture from his face with her thumbs. She then cupped his face in her hands and leaned forward to place a small tender kiss on his forehead.
"You need to watch out for Nott" she said with regret as she watched his eyes darken and his fists clench at the mention of the cursed name. "That son of a …" Draco cursed fervently rage shimmering in his eyes but Hermione took his hand and spoke softly "yes he is that but he is also going to provoke you. He is going to shove it in your face so please Draco you need to be careful and calm…please" she pleaded.
Draco exhaled and sighed wearily "I know Mione…believe me I know. I know much better than any of you how the Slytherins operate." But even as he said the words, his eyes became hard with determination and his voice matched his expression "But this time I am not going to back off. I will show him how it is played. I will show him who the real Malfoy is" he said his voice as hard as flint.
A sharp stab of fear went through Hermione as she saw the old Malfoy surface in Draco's words. She desperately hoped that this would not send him back to his old persona. She would not be able to bear it if she had to fight for their relationship again. She simply couldn't.
"Draco please calm down. We are already stressed out with the horcrux hunt…I can't be worrying about you too. You are a beautiful person, someone who can love and be loved and I love the person you have become. I am scared that I will lose the Draco whom I love to the Malfoy you are trying to be" she said with fervour as hazel bored into silver grey.
"I am sorry Mione I don't mean to scare you and you will never ever lose me but Merlin help me! I might not be able to control myself even if I want to. I need you to understand that this is a battle of wills between my father and me. He wants to break me and I refuse to let him Mione. I swear I will not let our relationship suffer but I really cannot let him think that he has won over me" Draco said passionately holding her tightly.
"So what are you going to do Draco?" Hermione asked in a quiet voice afraid of the answer. "I don't know…not right now anyway" he said before sighing and tiredly running a hand over his face. "I need time to think and we need to go before Harry and Ron break down the door".
"So does this mean that you are feeling better?" Hermione asked coyly as Draco lifted an eyebrow and smirked. "Yeah…feeling good enough to do this" he smiled evilly before reaching out and pulling her to him. The kiss was slow, smooth and thorough making Hermione a little winded as usual.
"But before we go, hold on…let me fix my face a bit" he said casting a quick glamour on himself to get rid of the tear tracks and the redness in his eyes. They then quickly made their way to the exit where Harry and Ron were waiting for them.
Harry looked at Draco "you alright there?" he asked with a shadow of his own in his eyes. Draco nodded "for now ...let's get to our class and show the world what it is to be a Malfoy" he said with steel in his voice. Harry exchanged a look with Hermione and decided not to say anything for the moment as he nodded "we missed the first hour but we can get to transfiguration now". He turned to Draco "what do you have now?" he asked and let out a small sigh of relief when he answered "defence with Hufflepuff".They needed time to be able to face Nott.
"Hey, we missed breakfast and I am fairly sure that you guys would not have eaten much either" Ron said looking at Hermione and Draco. He turned to Harry "perhaps you should call Dobby and ask him to give us a few rolls or something" he said ruefully.
Harry contemplated the situation and agreed with Ron "you have a point. None of us did have breakfast. Dobby!" he called. Once the elf had returned with a few rolls and pumpkin juice the teenagers wolfed down the food on their way to transfiguration. They made it a point to escort Draco to his classroom before leaving for their own. Hermione in particular had turned to him and enquired whether he had the pendant with him and only then made her way to her class.
Draco was acutely aware of the stares being directed his way and he loathed the looks of sympathy that he was garnering. He was not helpless damn it! He could take care of himself and he had people to watch his back now.
He did his best to avoid the looks but he was definitely happy when the class ended. Immediately Luna came over to him and in her unique way made him feel better.
"You should try wearing garlic, they help to ward off evil you know" she said with utter conviction. Draco tried to keep the scepticism off his face as he said "err…don't they say that garlic keeps off vampires or something".
Luna smiled serenely "on the contrary it might bring the vampire closer and they will help you keep Nott away". She said it with such conviction and serenity that Draco could not help smiling. The knot in his stomach loosened and for the first time in days he relaxed and not for the first time thought that this girl was indeed close to his heart. She seemed impervious to his cold shield and she was so pure at heart that it was amazing. He had never been touched by such pure innocence before and he vowed that he would look after her too.
"I don't think we need a vampire to handle Nott. It would be such an insult to the vampire" Draco said with a serious expression and then dissolved into laughter as Luna laughed her tinkling laughter causing others in the hallway to look at them curiously.
They made their way to the potions classroom walking through the corridor and discussing the first hour of class that Draco had missed. They were so engrossed in their discussion that they had not noticed they were the only ones there. Everyone else had already hurried ahead. It was when they fell silent for a few minutes that Draco realised their solitude and immediately his guard went up.
These were the opportunities the Slytherins preyed on and unconsciously he picked up his pace. He held Luna's hand and dragged her along. "What's up?" she asked puzzled by his change in countenance and pace but he didn't stop to answer her.
Instead, he stopped abruptly and subtly shifted her behind him and drew his wand in his hand. She craned her head to peer around him and saw a group of Slytherins glaring at them. She felt a small sliver of alarm as she saw Nott standing with his wand drawn in their direction. She drew her wand as well knowing that this was not going to end well if the expression on Draco's face was any indication.
"Well well…Draco…I always knew that you would be a disappointment to the Malfoy name but to openly align yourself with such riff raff? Tsk tsk what a shame! No wonder Lucius was so ashamed to be anywhere near you. But you see I have to show him how worthy I am to be called his son and what better way than to punish you, who have caused him heart ache. No one hurts my dad and gets away from me" he hissed his face alight with malice.
Draco felt the words cut into him and a dull ache from where his heart was. There was no denying the deep hurt the words were causing him and for a moment he felt afraid that that the moisture in his eyes would become apparent. But the moment passed and he stood up straight and looked Nott in the eye.
"I will say this only once. Move" he commanded the icy tones dripping with contempt. "Why? Are you scared Draco?" the mocking tones of Nott rang in the corridor as he suddenly whipped out his wand and shouted "segmentum maximus".
But Draco had been prepared for just such a thing and he repelled the curse with "protego sui" and pushed Luna behind him. He immediately followed with "diffindo" "reducto"… "stupefy" and was aware of Luna throwing her own spells. The corridor was soon filled with the shouts of "protego" and other curses.
Draco could see that Nott was becoming angry that his curses were not having the effect that he desired and he knew that it was just a matter of time that the curses would become dark. Nott had no control on his rage, none whatsoever.
So when Nott screamed "crucio" Draco was prepared and he put all his power behind "protego sui maximus" and at the same time ripped his chain off his neck. He pressed it into Luna's hand and hurriedly said "close your hand on the pendant and call Harry. I will hold them off".
He was thankful that Luna didn't stop to question him and immediately closed her hand on the pendant. But this meant that he had to deal with six Slytherins all on his own who had him surrounded now. The fight would be in earnest now, no holds barred. He was boxed in and forced into a continuous cycle of shield and offense on his part.
The real problem however arose when his shield was attacked by six hexes at the same time. The Slytherins had combined their attacks and Draco knew that even the fortified shield could not hold up under such an attack.
His shield buckled under the combined onslaught and suddenly he was under two cruciatus curses at the same time. He was vaguely aware of falling to the ground as the pain filled his senses. He was being burned alive and breathing was becoming difficult. He heard distant shouts and realised that they were his shouts of pain. Somewhere in the depths of his awareness, he heard Luna's voice casting her spells and a coil of worry hit him anew. She would not be able to match Nott, not in the slightest. Nott was ruthless and her light spells would not do much.
"You belong at my feet Draco, submit to me or else she suffers" Nott's sneering tone assaulted his ears as he became aware of Nott's feet near his face. Draco brought his breathing under control and tightened his hold on his wand which miraculously was still in his hand. He raised his head to see Luna being held by one of the Slytherins and Nott sneering down at him. Worry and affection for his friend wiped out all his tiredness and he planned his next move. It was time to cut down on playing nice.
"Not in your wildest dreams" Draco replied as he got to his feet in one fluid movement and cast his wand in a wide arc shouting "partum turbinis vasti".He swiftly pulled Luna from the Slytherins grasp to his side as the slytherins were blasted in different directions by the tornado curse. The offenders were all sprawled out in different directions and Draco knew that he had to bind them up or something. But the curse had taken a lot out of him considering that it was borderline dark.
He was losing his strength and he needed help. No sooner had he thought this, than he heard footsteps thundering along the corridor and the welcome voices of Harry, Ron and Hermione.
The Slytherins had not yet recovered from the blast and Draco was slumped against the wall trying to recover his strength. Luna was holding onto his arm with a worried look as the trio took over. Nott however was snarling and seemed to be recovered as he aimed his wand at Draco intending to no doubt curse him but he had sorely misjudged the speed at which Harry could react. The idiot should have remembered the seeker reflexes Draco thought idly as Harry quickly disarmed and bound him up with an "incarcerous" before he could even incant the spell.
"Are you two alright?" Harry asked glancing at Luna and Draco before turning to Ron "perhaps you should get Professor Snape" he said. Ron nodded before rushing off to the dungeons to summon Snape. Harry and Hermione proceeded to bind up the rest of the Slytherins before Hermione rushed to Draco's side.
Worry marred her features as she took in his appearance checking him over for injuries. He had cuts on his forehead and hands from where some of the hexes had got through his shield and every now and then there were tremors from the cruciatus. She firmly pushed him to sit on the ground "Draco you need the hospital wing" she commented looking shaken as Ron reappeared with Snape at his side.
"What is happening here?" Snape asked in his customary drawl looking supremely unruffled and the teens were thankful for his presence. "We were attacked on our way to the dungeons" Draco commented as Snape surveyed the scene. "Why do I sense a whole lot of dark curses here?" he asked as Draco drily commented "because there were".Snape looked closely at Draco and took in his appearance before turning to Nott. He had a pretty good idea of what must have happened and he was very angry at his Slytherins.
"You do know you could be expelled for this and you dunderheads who decided to follow here. It seems I was mistaken to think that my slytherins have some sense" he said severely.
But Nott smirked "Not simply Nott, professor you forget. I am now Nott-Malfoy" he said before adding "no Professor, nothing will happen to me. My father, Lucius Malfoy that is"…" he said looking smugly at Draco "will make sure that nothing happens."
"And it is not as if we were the only ones using dark spells…your darling blonde boy over there will go down too if we do. I will make sure of it. So I would be very careful about making accusations if I were you Professor" he mocked.
Snape fought to clamp down his anger as he realised the reality of the words. He needed to apprise Dumbledore of this and have a subsequent discussion on how to counter this latest development. He made a decision and quickly sent a patronus message for McGonagall to join him. It was a few tense minutes that McGonagall took to arrive. Few minutes that were spent with the boys glaring at one another with Severus keeping a tight hold on his wand. "Severus you called for me?" she asked.
Snape quickly filled her in and ended with "we need to escort these boys to the headmaster". She nodded and held her wand steady on the six slytherins "come on let's get going" she said firmly her wand and tone both steadfast and displeased. Nott however turned to Draco as he passed with an expression that could only be termed evil as he hissed "this is not over…watch your back blondie" and then he was gone.
Severus turned to the teens and noted the scrapes and cuts on Draco and the few that Luna had also sustained. "Please go to the hospital wing and get these looked at" he ordered and added "I will have a word with the headmaster and join you soon. Draco ask Poppy to give you the anti cruciatus potion".
The teens nodded and started towards the hospital wing while Snape made his way to talk to Dumbledore. Things were coming to a head and all this pointed to a confrontation in the near future.
Author notes: Thank you for the support and for sticking with me through the delays. The action will get heated up and the story should be heading to a close soon. I appreciate each and every one of the reviews although I never realised how much I had missed Dark Ravie until I saw the review again last chapter. On the same note I did miss seeing prettylilypotter in my inbox. She or he has some good insights which I find very useful.
And to the guest reviewer last chapter…you sounded so cute and believe me I do know what you are talking about. It is very difficult to tell your kid "go to bed" when all they do is give us this look that means "well if you can read a book why not us?"!
That being said I just want to simply say "please read and review" and thanks for the love and acceptance.
