1992 - Second Year
Harry and Ron followed closely behind Draco deeper into the Slytherin common room which was surprisingly deserted, much to Draco's liking.
Harry noted that the common room was larger and more spacious than the Gryffindor's, and yet it was noticeably darker. It had a coldness about it despite the fire blazing in the corner of the room. They both continued to follow Draco as he moved towards the open seating area, falling into one of the seats before he looked up at the pair staring down at him.
"Well sit down," Draco told them, looking at them with confusion. Harry and Ron immediately sat down on the sofa beside Draco, taking in their surroundings as he went on.
"You'd never know the Weasley's were purebloods, the way they behave. They're an embarrassment to the Wizarding world, all of them," he finished. Ron couldn't help but clench his fist as he listened to Draco drone on about his family,
"What's wrong with you, Crabbe?" He asked, noticing the fist Ron had screwed up completely. Harry nudged him slightly and Ron coughed, relaxing his hand slightly and focusing once more on the task at hand.
"Stomach ache," Ron answered, gaining an unsympathetic shrug from Draco.
"I'm surprised The Daily Prophet hasn't done a report on all of these attacks. I suppose Dumbledore is trying to hush it all up, father always said he was the worst thing to ever happen to this place," Draco continued before he was interrupted by Harry.
"You're wrong!" Harry yelled, startling Draco who had moved to an upright position to glare at him. Draco stood up and looked down at the Gryffindors masquerading as Slytherins.
"What? You think there's someone worse than Dumbledore?" He asked with venom in his tone. Harry looked at Ron as he realised he could've blown their cover in a matter of minutes before an idea came to his head.
"Harry Potter?" He said slowly.
Draco's face relaxed and his glare replaced with a smirk. "Good one Goyle. You're absolutely right, Saint Potter. And people actually think that he's the Heir of Slytherin?" Draco scoffed as he wandered over to the coffee table close by.
"But then you must have some idea who's behind it all?" Harry pushed, seizing the opportunity.
"You know I don't Goyle, I told you yesterday. How many times do I have to tell you?" Draco huffed, shaking a box he had found on the table, "Is this yours?" He asked Harry who shook his head.
"But my father did tell me this, it's been 50 years since the Chamber has been opened. He wouldn't tell me who opened it, only that they were expelled." Draco knew full well who had opened the Chamber all those years ago, however, Crabbe and Goyle didn't need to know the specifics. He just wanted to entertain their small minds for a moment.
"The last time the Chamber was opened, a Mudblood died, so it's only a matter of time before one of them is killed this time. As for me, I hope it's Granger," Draco smirked as he finished.
As uncomfortable as he felt saying those words, he knew that it would convince them both that anything Blaise may or may not be saying behind his back about his former friendship with Hermione was a lie. However, the reaction he got was not what he had expected from his friends as Crabbe jumped up immediately after he finished speaking,
"What's the matter with you two?!" He asked as he watched Goyle put his arm in front of Crabbe, blocking him from moving anywhere. "You're acting very odd."
"It's his stomach ache," Harry said whilst he watched Draco turn his attention back to the box he had picked up moments ago. He turned to Ron and shoved him back slightly.
"Calm down!" He whispered harshly to him.
Ron's face paled as he started to stutter at Harry in response, "S-s-scar.." Ron whispered.
"Hair," Harry whispered back pointing to his friend's head. Both the boys were starting to turn back to their original form right in the middle of the Slytherin common room. They both darted towards the portrait to make a quick exit.
"Hey! Where are you two going?" Draco yelled after them but they had already left.
As Harry and Ron turned the corner from the Slytherin dorms they bumped into a very groggy Crabbe and Goyle. Their eyes pinged open the second they landed on Harry and Ron. All four boys looked at each other as Harry and Ron stood facing them still transitioning back into their original forms whilst looking slightly like Crabbe and Goyle. Ron's brain snapped first and he grabbed Harry's arm as he continued to run towards the girl's toilets on the first floor.
The real Crabbe and Goyle made their way at back to the Slytherin common room, neither one commented on what they had just seen or thought to ask if the other had seen the same thing. Instead, they just continued their slow walk in silence.
"What was that about?" Blaise asked Draco as he appeared in the common room. Draco was still sitting staring wide-eyed at the door his friends had just left through moments ago.
"Haven't a clue," he responded.
"So we haven't had a chance to speak yet about these attacks," Blaise started, moving to sit opposite him. Draco chose not to respond and instead watched his friend and waited for him to go on.
"What's the deal with all these attacks then? What's the end game?" He asked.
"Father said the last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened a girl died. I assume the same result is what's to be expected only he wants that person to be Potter."
"Now that would be a treat. Two birds, one stone, wipe out half of the Mudbloods and kill Saint Potter."
"That's the plan Blaise," Draco sighed, completely uninterested in the conversation.
"So what's happened?" Blaise asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, a few months ago all someone had to do was mention Grangers name and you would visibly tense up, regardless of what context it was in. Granted it was usually negative, but still, you'd react in some way. Now you're ready to watch her become one of the next victims, what's happened?" Draco straightened himself in his seat and avoided eye contact with Blaise.
For a moment he allowed himself to imagine what things would be like if their friendship was different - if they were different. Would he find it easier to open up to his friend had they been born into different families, raised as something other than privileged Purebloods? He had grown up with Blaise since he was able to walk, they had been the closest of friends and they did almost everything together. Yet, their upbringing on pureblood traditions meant that their friendship wasn't the same as what others might be. He imagined Harry and Ron could talk about these kinds of things and it would stay between them because their loyalties lay with each other, in the friendship. Whereas Draco couldn't trust that Blaise would keep his secrets and if he told anyone, it could ruin everything he was trying to build with his father.
"I've told you before Blaise, me and Granger weren't friends. It might've seemed that way, but that was just your imagination, my friend."
Blaise scoffed but said nothing further on Hermione, he knew when to push and when not to, "Okay, well what about Pansy?"
Draco shuddered and looked at his friend, "Don't get me started on her."
"But this is why I ask, she's clearly obsessed with you and yet you can't stand her, or at least I think you can't. Apparently, I struggle to read what you're actually feeling."
"No, I don't like her. But she has it in her head that we are supposed to get married one day and I think Father wants that too. So, I'm hoping she will grow on me because at the moment she makes my skin crawl. Honestly, all she does is whine and the way she calls me Drakey, urg!" Draco went on making Blaise laugh.
"Yeah, her little pet name for you is... interesting."
"It winds me up to no end but what can I do?"
"What you do best, whatever you're father asks of you."
"Don't say it like that Blaise, you know it's not that simple. Would you say no to my father?"
Blaise shuddered, "Absolutely fucking not."
"Exactly, and he's my father, I have no chance!"
They both laughed together, one of the few rare moments they've had with just the two of them, in over a year.
~X~
Draco woke in the middle of the night covered in sweat and struggling to catch his breath. He had been having the same dream - no, nightmare, for the past few nights. In the nightmare, his father had told him to enter the Chamber to confirm that the Muggleborn inside had been killed. Draco searched through the Chamber, scared and alone until he heard screams, he couldn't make out who it was, but they were always of his name. Someone was terrified screaming out for him and each time he picked up the pace and ran he arrived at a lifeless body where he could confirm they were dead.
He never saw the face of the body but he could never forget the hair, it was brunette and soft, but thick and wild and it smelt like apples. He knew who the hair belonged to even without seeing the face that went with it - Hermione. Every night when his dream reached this point he would wake up in a panic, unable to get back to sleep.
He climbed out of bed, deciding he'd had enough of his restless nights and dressed, preparing himself to seek out Madam Pomfrey for some Dreamless Sleeping potion. When he arrived at the hospital wing he noticed there was a bed that had its curtains drawn completely. He almost pulled them back to have a peek but before he could, Madam Pomfrey appeared from her office, startled by his appearance.
Storming towards him and keeping her voice low she whispered to Draco, "What're you doing here Mr. Malfoy?! It's past 2 in the morning!"
"I couldn't sleep, I'm still struggling with the dreams. Could I please have another Dreamless Sleep Potion?" He asked her.
She huffed but examined his dark circles under his eyes and struggled to say no, and so off she went to fetch him a vile. All he wanted was a decent night's sleep.
~X~
It'd taken Hermione a substantial amount of convincing from Ron and Harry for her to eventually make her way to the hospital wing after her Polyjuice potion had gone wrong. She knew the minute her tail bone had started to tingle after she drank it that something was off.
After mixing cat hair instead of human hair into her potion, Hermione had transformed into a mixture between a human and a cat. Which, Ron told her through fits of giggles, wouldn't go away on its own and he was right. As soon as Madame Pomfrey caught sight of Hermione she gasped and gave her a lengthy lecture on the severity of getting a Polyjuice potion wrong. After a few seconds into the lecture, Hermione stopped listening from embarrassment and bowed her head in shame.
It was her second night in hospital, Madame Pomfrey had wanted her to remain there until she had stopped coughing up hairballs and her ears and tail had disappeared completely. Hermione was beginning to grow tired of being restricted to the wing, it was after curfew for the students and Hermione wasn't even close to being tired. She knew she was in for a long night and so she had asked Ron and Harry to bring her books so she could go over research once more to make sure she didn't miss anything. She wanted to get this figured out before Christmas which was only a few days away and it was looking highly unlikely that she wasn't going to meet the deadline she had given herself.
"Back again?" Hermione heard Madame Pomfrey's voice and thought nothing of it
"Honestly Mr. Malfoy, this is your last one. You've had two already and if you won't tell me the reason as to why you need them so badly, I'm going to have to refuse you anymore without a letter from your parents. Dreamless Sleep potion is not to be taken lightly, one needs to dream," she finished as she walked off.
Hermione had stopped what she was doing completely upon hearing Draco's name. Despite being hidden behind the curtain, she felt completely exposed.
"One needs to dream," Draco mimicked Pomfrey and a small giggle escaped from Hermione's mouth. She froze and stared at the curtain where she imagined Draco on the other side. Draco moved towards the curtain where he heard the giggling coming from and pulled it back in one quick swoop to discover Hermione sitting in the bed surrounded by books. However, it wasn't the Hermione he knew.
He stared at his former Gryffindor friend who had small cat ears poking out of her wild hair and the faintest sign of whiskers on her cheeks. But it was the tail moving behind her back that made him laugh hysterically at her, holding his stomach as it started to hurt from the laughter. Hermione scowled at him until eventually, she threw one of her books and he stopped.
"What on earth happened to you?" Draco said as he tried to come down from his fits of laughter.
"Never you mind!" Hermione snapped.
"It's a vast improvement if I do say so myself," Draco added. Hermione picked up another book and he held out his hands in surrender. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But seriously, what happened?"
"Why do you care?" She stared at him, pressing her lips together.
His smile disappeared at her words, "I don't," he lied, straightening himself as he picked up the book from the floor she had thrown at him from moments ago. "Hogwarts: A History? Aren't you bored of this by now?"
"Not like I've had anything new to read recently," Hermione said quietly as she looked down at the rest of her books that lay scattered over her bed. She had meant it more to herself regarding new research or lack thereof. However, she knew her words had a double meaning as she hadn't had a recommendation from Draco for a new book in over six months.
Draco paled slightly and looked back down at the book in his hands. "There are new notes..." he said after examining the book further, "On the Chamber of Secrets?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her. "Why does it not surprise me that the Golden Trio are investigating these attacks?" He asked as he threw the book back onto her bed.
"Someone has to."
"But why you? You nearly died last time you meddled in the Dark Lords Business," Draco tried you keep the concern out of his voice, not realising what he had actually said.
"Voldemort has something to do with this?!" Hermione asked, sitting up further. Draco stared back at her wide-eyed at a loss with how to respond.
"Malfoy, if you know something you have to tell. Someone else could be attacked again soon or worse, someone could be killed," she said with desperation in her voice. Little did she know Draco already knew that was the plan, someone was supposed to get killed and his father was planning for it to be Harry Potter.
"I don't know what's going on Granger, I just assumed You-Know-Who had a part to play in this. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed. I'm bored of you now," he told her and watched as her face fell. His words clearly hurt her but he ignored the pang of guilt and left the hospital wing without his potion.
Hermione stared after him, she felt in her gut that he knew something, 'Maybe that's what he was trying to tell me at the start of the year' she thought to herself.
"Now Mr. Malfoy remember this is the last-" Madame Pomfrey started as she entered the room and stopped the moment she realised he had left. She glanced over at Hermione and shrugged as she placed the potion back in her apron.
"Miss Granger, you're supposed to be resting, not studying. Now go to sleep," she said as she started putting away Hermione's books, paying no attention to what they were.
Hermione helped clear her bed and lay down staring at the curtain that surrounded her bed once more. Draco knew something, she just had to figure out what.
~X~
Hermione woke the following morning to a pair of voices that brought a smile to her face, they hadn't noticed she was awake yet and she decided to listen to them a little more before she opened her eyes.
"I wouldn't have come to the hospital wing, I'd have wanted to keep my tail!"
"If you could pick an animal to morph with which would it be? Any animal or creature."
"That's a tricky one Fred. It would depend on what features you could take."
"Pot luck."
"A Hippogriff."
"And end up with the legs and face?"
"A wolf?"
"The body of, nothing else."
"A bear!"
"The tail and ears like 'Mione."
"You're making this too difficult."
"Wouldn't be fun if it was easy, George."
"You're taking the fun out of it, Fred," George said with a huff. The boys stayed silent for a moment whilst George pondered further on the animal he would choose before he finally decided.
"I've got it! A monkey, chimp to be specific!"
Fred quietly processed his brother's decision. He tried to find another flaw in this animal but the similarities they already had made it difficult to think of a bad scenario so he sighed with defeat.
"Well played, I'll give you that one."
"And what, my dear brother, would you choose?" George asked with a smug look on his face as he realised he'd chosen the winning animal, leaving his brother with only one option but to choose the same.
"I'd choose a house-elf," Fred said.
"What?! A house-elf! Why?!"
"Because, worst case scenario I end up with big ears on my regular body, best case I end up smaller... Either way, I'm going to have the powers of a house-elf," Fred told his brother as he stretched back in his seat, basking in the reaction he gained by his brilliance. Hermione couldn't help but giggle at the boys as she opened her eyes and watched them look towards her.
"Good Morning Purr-Mione," Fred said to her, earning another giggle in response, "How're you feeling?"
"Better, I don't feel like coughing up a hairball which is an improvement."
"Yeah, I grew out of that phase a few years back. Poor Fred still coughs up the odd few though," George said as his brother coughed for effect. Hermione shook her head at them and sat upright.
"Not that I'm not thankful for your visit, but why are you here?" Hermione asked the twins.
"Why wouldn't we be?" Fred asked with confusion.
"You're one of our little brothers' best friends, so you're our friend. We care." George told her, an offended look on his face. Hermione felt guilty for asking the question, of course they were friends, why wouldn't they check on her?
"Only joking, we just wanted to see if you really had a tail and you did! Could you move it? Did it wag? Do cats tails wag?" George began asking questions, however, by the end, it was clear to Hermione he was asking himself more than anyone.
"Hey Fred, we better get going anyway. We have Quidditch practice in 30 minutes," George stood up ready to leave the hospital wing, "Get better soon Hermione."
"Don't listen to him. We care, really, get well soon 'Mione," Fred told her before they left together.
Hermione shook her head, smiling to herself as she climbed out of bed to check over herself in the Mirror. It had appeared everything had vanished. No tail, no ears, no whiskers. Everything but slightly sharper teeth had disappeared and she no longer felt nauseous, which meant she would be able to leave.
Once she was given the go-ahead from Madame Pomfrey, Hermione gathered her belongings and put on her school robes. She made her way out of the hospital wing with a mission in her mind. That mission was to find out what Draco was hiding and what on earth was happening to the school.
~X~
New Year's Eve had come and gone, the celebrations had not been put off despite the attacks taking place in Hogwarts. Hermione had been forced to take at least one night off to enjoy herself with her friends. However, in the back of her mind all she could think about was the fact that she had put two and two together and realised that, given she was Muggleborn, she could be the next victim. She had no luck trying to figure out what Draco was hiding, in fact, she hadn't seen him since the incident in the hospital wing.
She watched as Ron sat by the fire eating a plate of mince pies that he subconsciously kept moving away from Seamus every time he reached for one.
"Hermione, can I talk to you for a second?" Ginny asked her. Hermione hadn't realised the youngest Weasley had approached her. She turned and smiled, gesturing for her to sit down but, before Ginny had the chance, Harry dived in the available spot making both girls jump.
"Oh, hi Ginny," he said to her as though he hadn't realised she was even there. Ginny stared at Harry before she left without saying another word. "Did I do something wrong?" Harry asked Hermione who shrugged in response.
"She wanted to speak to me about something, you obviously scared her away," Hermione told him and he frowned at her. "Maybe it was to tell me about the little crush she has on you."
"Shut up Hermione."
"Oh please, you can't deny it. Even Ron said she had been talking about you all summer!"
"Speaking of which, you spent a lot of time with Ron over the summer and I imagine you spent a lot of time talking about him too. Is there something you would like to tell me?" He asked, making Hermione blush.
"Not at all, Harry."
"No? Nobody has a little crush then?" He didn't think Hermione's blush could get worse but she almost blended into the background of the Gryffindor common room.
"Who's crushing on who?" George said as he made his way over to sit opposite Hermione and Harry with his brother.
"Yeah tell us all of the gossip guys. Life's awfully boring now Harry has decided to take a break on attacking Muggleborns," Fred said.
Harry shook his head and ignored the comment Fred had made, turning back to a pink-faced Hermione, "Yeah Hermione, tell them the gossip."
She scowled in his direction before she looked over at the twins.
"Are you crushing on someone Hermione?" George asked with surprise written across his face, "Now, this is interesting, pray tell, who is it?"
Hermione wanted to hit Harry for putting her in this situation but it would only make it more suspicious when she knew there was nothing to even gossip about.
"No one, I'm not crushing on anyone," she told them.
"Really?"
"Are you sure about that?"
"It's rude to lie, Hermione."
"Harry is just trying to wind me up, that's all," she said in a huff, wishing for the subject to be dropped.
"Look, Hermione, we get it, you're embarrassed but you don't have to be."
"Yeah it's natural, I mean honestly everyone feels the same way."
"Huh?" She asked.
"All we are saying is, you're not the only one."
"There are plenty of girls in the same situation as you."
"It can't be helped really, I mean, what girl wouldn't feel this way."
"You're really going to have to explain this to me because you've lost me," she said as Harry sat beside her giggling, clearly understanding what they were getting at.
"It's us, who you're crushing on, isn't it."
"We understand."
"But Hermione you're like a little sister to us."
"We appreciate it none the less," Fred said as he winked at her. Her cheeks inflamed as they went on.
"It could never happen."
"Plus we would never want to make you choose, it'd be cruel to put you in that predicament."
"But we just wanted to let you know, it's ok."
"It's nothing to be embarrassed by," Fred finished as the twins got up and left. He smiled back at her once more before they moved across the common room to sit with their friends.
Hermione turned to Harry whose eyes were wide and a huge grin splashed across his face. As soon as he caught her eyes he immediately burst out laughing.
"That honestly couldn't have gone any better if it had been planned! That was brilliant," he said through gasps of air. Hermione hit him straight in the arm but he was laughing too much for it to stop him.
She huffed and stood, shaking her head at Harry as he continued to roll around. She headed towards her dorm room, ignoring Harry as he shouted after her because she could still hear the laughter in his throat and she was much too embarrassed to be sitting in the common room.
Once she readied herself for bed she climbed in and reached for her book when she noticed something was different. There was a new book on her bedside table. It had been months since Draco had sent her a book and, since their friendship had ended once they returned back to school, there hadn't been much of anything - never mind a new recommendation. She reached over and grabbed the new book, pulling it back she glanced at the cover, 'Sherlock Holmes.'
She knew these stories very well, her dad had read them to her when she was younger, the children's versions, of course. She hadn't seen a copy like this before, it was much bigger than the ones she knew. It was hardback with a black leather spine - it looked old. She wouldn't be surprised if it was a first edition.
Hermione opened the first page of the book to find that her suspicion was right, it was a first edition and it had a message written inside.
'There is no one who knows the higher criminal world of London so well as I do. - SH'
She froze as she read the message. 'SH, it couldn't be? Surely..' she thought to herself. Hermione continued to flick through the book and grew disappointed when she found there was no note to follow. She knew it had to have come from Draco but there was nothing written anywhere.
For the first time she was experiencing mixed feelings, she wasn't sure what this meant. Was it a peace offering? Was it a dig about their earlier conversation on how she's always investigating things that she shouldn't? Hermione knew she could spend all night reading into the many reasons as to why Draco had sent her a book after so long of nothing but instead, she decided to start reading the actual book.
For the first time since Mrs. Norris was attacked, Hermione felt completely relaxed as she lost herself in a new world and found herself in 221B Baker Street.
Author Note
Disclaimer - I do not own the world of Harry Potter, I wish I did, but I don't.
MASSIVE shout out to KoraKunkel for being the best beta!