Disclaimer: All characters listed here are the manifestation of Ms Rowling's creativity, I hereby only copyright any OOC, the Wentervales, and my new character Corrinne .
Hermione walked towards the Gryffindor common-room, dazed. Never in her life had she spoken so much to Draco Malfoy, and her heart was thumping crazily, which was very odd indeed. But what really stirred her was the image of him sitting in the snow, that pale face with a hollow expression, that muscular body now slack – like he had been deflated – yet heaving with a look of...
She couldn't really decipher it, but it felt like – a tinge of fear.
"Password please, Ms Granger, standing there won't really get you in," remarked the Fat Lady, drily. Hermione looked up, startled, and apologetically mumbled, "Leaping Toadstool", and the painting swung aside. As Hermione made her way in, her mind still tangled up with images of Draco Malfoy, she was suddenly enveloped in an air of silence. But it was not a cold one; it felt warm and tingly, like the aftermath of a celebration. Clearly, the Gryffindors were still celebrating their first Quidditch win of the season, but it seemed that it was not so much the euphoria of victory, but rather...
Harry and Ginny jumped apart, startled and embarrassed by Hermione's appearance, and there were sniggers and the last of wolfwhistles with amused looks. Ron was standing at a corner, rolling his eyes, and looking rather foolish. Hermione stared at them blankly.
"Erm, we, I..." Harry fumbled, as his arms untangled from around Ginny's waist and he stuffed his hands into his robe pockets quickly. "Well, I..."
"Hi, Hermione," said Ginny, as brightly as she could, but just as bright as the red that was rushing up her neck. "Where'd you go?"
"Oh, erm." Hermione raised her eyebrows at Ron, who gave a scowl in return. "I was – I was taking a stroll...the cheers made my ears ring, you know, so erm... did I interrupt anything?"
There were more sniggers from the small crowd. Harry and Ginny exchanged embarrassed looks, while Ron just sighed and shook his head.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"I missed it!" wailed Hermione. "I can't believe I missed it!"
"Merlin, what's there to see?" demanded Ron. "They were just sticking together like – Honeydukes!"
"Mate!" warned Harry, turning bright red. "You were alright..."
"I didn't say I'd be alright forever you know," muttered Ron, sulking. "Ginny herself hasn't even asked..."
"Asked what?" Ginny cut in, her face flaming. "Asked you for permission? Excuse me, I think I'm old enough to decide who I want to date or kiss, Ronald Bilius Weasley, you're not..."
"Mother? Well let me tell you, now that Fred and George aren't here, this makes me the eldest and the only other Weasley here to keep tabs on you," retorted Ron, his eyes bulging. "And so..."
"Erm okay, you guys can take this back to the Burrow," Hermione interjected hastily. "I'm sure Ron means to give you two his full blessings." She glared at Ron, who narrowed his eyes at her. "And I do too!" She finished, beaming.
Harry pushed his spectacles up awkwardly, and managed a smile.
"Thanks, Hermione," he said, while Ginny flung her arms around Hermione, beaming as well.
Hermione whispered in Ginny's ears just before letting go, "I'm so glad, Ginny, so glad!" And Ginny blushed before leaning back and slipping a hand into Harry's, eliciting another red flush up his neck.
"Fancy just jumping at each other when you've just won one match..."
"Ron!"
"Right, sorry," Ron grumbled. "I'm rather rattled that I didn't make any good saves today, except the one that nearly threw the Quaffle back into Slytherin's possession... I mean I thought I was doing awesome, did you see that little somersault I did at the start? Oh and that bloody Zabini, tried to knock me off my broom..."
"...and Corrinne nearly got us thrown out of the game!" cried Ginny, her smile fading into a cross look.
"Corrinne?" Hermione stared.
"She pushed Blaise Zabini towards the Bludger!" Ginny turned her fierce gaze onto Hermione. "It was a clear foul, but Madam Hooch didn't see it! I'm quite surprised Zabini was so easily pushed around."
"He's been rather peaky of late," reminded Harry. "Flu, remember?"
"Corrinne is dangerous on the pitch in the wrong way," said Ginny, adamantly. "She's a good player, but she'll send us out of the Championships sooner or later. Look at how she was clawing at Malfoy just now!"
"But I'll have to admit, if not for her, Malfoy would have caught the Snitch before me," said Harry, cautiously.
The mention of 'Malfoy' jolted Hermione. Should she tell Harry?
"Speaking of Malfoy..." Harry looked over at Ginny, who nodded. "Oh I've told Ginny about the 'plan', I hope you don't mind." Hermione shook her head, managing a smile. "Well, you said he fainted yesterday during patrol; I was really surprised to see him line up with the Slytherins today. What's up with him?"
"Yeah, you didn't tell us why he fainted," said Ron. "You just said it wasn't serious."
"It wasn't," replied Hermione, coolly. "Like I told you, Snape came in to see him and then I wasn't allowed to stay there, so I don't really know what they said."
Ginny cast a glance at Hermione, but Hermione looked at Harry instead, who frowned. "This is not good. Snape and Malfoy's relationship deserve some looking into. So far what we've deduced is that Narcissa Malfoy swore Snape to an Unbreakable Vow to help Malfoy if the situation arises. It's clear Malfoy has a mission to kill someone, but we don't know who, except that it's more than likely this person is in Hogwarts. Malfoy's fainting might put him in a vulnerable position, and it's not a very favourable incident, I should think, Snape must be livid about it."
"Especially since I saw it," offered Hermione, trying not to bite her lip.
"Exactly," said Harry, nodding. "We currently have two theories – either Malfoy is going to take revenge for Lucius Malfoy, or he is going to further his father's legacy of being a successful Death Eater and become Voldemort's most loyal servant. Hermione, is there anything that he has hinted to you so far which suggests an inclination to either side?"
Hermione's forehead creased as she frowned. Should she tell him what Draco Malfoy had done to her in the Hospital Wing and earlier on – that was, to threaten to kill her? But if she did, Harry would stop her from attempting to liaise with Malfoy anymore. And somehow, after seeing that vulnerable image of Draco trembling in the snow, and after offering her help out of impulse, she couldn't just leave him alone. It was clear Draco was angry about his father's murder, he was furious about the way Lucius Malfoy had been murdered and he clearly didn't know much, or he would not have asked Snape about Maldash Wentervale. Then there was the whole business about Lanneria Wentervale and Jeremiah Greengrass.
Greengrass? Seems to ring a bell...
Should she tell Harry that even though Malfoy was dangerous, he really wasn't inherently evil? Just because... her gut instincts told her so?
Even though the last few times, she had felt more than eager to report to Harry every behaviour of Malfoy and his expressions, his aura, his words... this time round, she felt tongue-tied. Her heart thumped again as the image of his eyes floated into her mind – those gray eyes, hard, but yet not cold, looking at her as he swooped past the Gryffindor crowd at the Quidditch match...
Oh, Daphne Greengrass!
"Hermione?"
She snapped back to reality. "Honestly, Harry, I can't put my finger to it... what I do feel is that Malfoy isn't really capable of killing anyone..."
"He has Snape!" cut in Ron, angrily. "That bloody ferret can do anything with the backing of Snape!"
Hermione could feel Ginny's cutting gaze fix on her from the side. She took a deep breath. "I need some more time. Malfoy's not easy to deal with even as a fellow student, okay?"
Ron instantly looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, Hermione, I didn't mean..."
She flashed him a smile. "It's okay."
As the boys left to go back to the common-room, Hermione was about to follow them, when Ginny motioned her to stay where they were, at the steps leading to the courtyard. Feeling uneasy, Hermione sent Ginny a questioning look.
"So," said Ginny, when the boys had disappeared from hearing distance. "What was the whole Maldash Wentervale thing about?"
Hermione stared. "What?"
"I thought you heard it from Parvati or Lavender!" cried Ginny. "I could scarcely believe that already – they're also sworn to secrecy by their parents, because all wizarding families can't be blabbering about this even in gossip, I only decided to tell you more because you're the smartest girl in Hogwarts, and you're helping Harry against Malfoy, so I thought you ought to know about this!"
Hermione's insides were churning. "Ginny..."
Ginny folded her arms. "You must have heard it from Malfoy!" she said, accusingly. "It just fell into place just now; you didn't hear what Snape and Malfoy were talking about? I don't believe that – I could tell you were lying. You're terrible at lying, Hermione. After you came out from the Hospital Wing, you met me and asked me straight away about Wentervale. And I don't believe you learnt Occlumency on your own for nothing – surely you blocked out your thoughts from Snape and..."
"Ginny, I'm sorry, just give me some time okay?" Hermione massaged her temples. "Yes, I heard it from Malfoy asking Snape about him." She winced as Ginny glared at her. "Look, I want to find out more before I report anything to Harry. Knowing that the guy Professor McGonagall was telling us about was Maldash Wentervale doesn't help in anything. It just means Malfoy is interested in knowing more about this guy. Snape himself didn't answer him at all, I swear, that's why I had to ask you instead..."
She paused. Leaving out the Greengrass part would probably be safer. "There's something more to it than just that – so let me find it out first okay? Harry doesn't even know who he is because nobody told him either, right? I don't want Harry to be jumping in onto this so excitedly and pressing me to go faster. As a matter of fact, I'm quite sick of Draco Malfoy at the moment."
Which was true. Images of him kept popping up in her mind relentlessly.
"Has he been horribly mean?" Ginny's accusatory tone melted into a worried one.
"Mudblood this, Mudblood that," muttered Hermione. "Nothing new."
"Then you take your time," said Ginny, firmly. "I'll talk to Harry and make sure he doesn't push you with this. You're doing this for him, he should be more appreciative."
"I'm sure he is, Ginny," said Hermione, tiredly. "Just... just don't mention Wentervale for the moment. And don't tell him Malfoy's been insulting the hell out of me. You know how impulsive Harry is."
"Alright," mused Ginny, doubtfully. "But you must let us know if things get dangerous. Malfoy isn't one to be trifled with, wand, brain, Dark Mark and all. And let me know if you find out what he's trying to know about Wentervale. I'll see if I can help."
"Thanks Ginny," replied Hermione, flashing her a grateful look.
Then she thought of Malfoy again, and sighed.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Draco stared at the empty fireplace, his mind chock full of images, thoughts, sounds... it was a horrible mess and cacophony rolled into one, accumulating into a terrible headache that was pounding mercilessly within his head. Wincing, he leant back against the armchair. Somehow the sobbing had taken some load off him, but it was only temporary. The moment he stepped into the Slytherin common-room and remembered who he was supposed to look for, everything came rushing back again.
The sound of the portrait sliding past to allow a Slytherin into the common-room reverberated around the quiet common-room. An auburn-haired girl stepped in, and stared around the room curiously. Her sparkling green eyes roved around and halted upon the figure of Draco Malfoy staring stonily at the empty fireplace.
"Where's everybody?" Her clear voice rang out.
Draco turned and almost leapt out of his seat upon seeing the girl. But then he blinked, and realised she wasn't really the one he was looking for. "Theo's got a new broom, they're all watching him try it out."
"Fancy," she said with a snort, tossing her wavy hair. "Just because it's the newest Firebolt series doesn't mean he has to parade it around. And you," she glared accusingly at Draco, who was rather taken aback at being the focus of her annoyance, "are not much better when you get a new broom."
Draco just stared at her.
"What's the use of getting a new broom when you can't even catch the bloody Snitch?" she continued, sneering. Something in Draco flared, and he got up and fixed his gray eyes on her coldly. "Astoria Greengrass, I don't suppose you really have any right to be insulting me, especially when you're only a fourth-year?"
"I could be speaking on behalf of my sister," said Astoria, shrugging, her auburn hair rippling across her shoulders. "Or perhaps the entire Slytherin House."
Draco scowled. Somehow he was rather impressed that this girl was able to stand up to him and mock him, whilst everyone else in Slytherin House was always avoiding him (even Astoria's sister)... Pansy would be an exception if not for the fact that she was always asking about how he was going to accomplish his mission and so forth. The Parkinsons did not take sides outright, but they leaned towards the Dark Lord's ideas, and Pansy was torn between being both thrilled and wary about Draco becoming a Death Eater. He appreciated Pansy's sharpness, but really wasn't about to let her know anything.
Damn, this is the second girl I'm getting impressed by... his thoughts suddenly drifted to Hermione Granger. But she was different from Astoria. How different? Astoria was definitely more beautiful. Her green eyes were almost alluring, her hair a perfect shade of reddish-brown, her voice clear as crystal – almost the perfect pureblood. As for Granger, well, it wasn't about her looks for sure, but...
Staring at Astoria, who was now rather frustrated that he was staring at her, he suddenly realised. He didn't have to wait for Daphne Greengrass, he could always...
"How is Jeremiah Greengrass related to you?" Draco asked, without thinking, then realised he should have been more subtle, and cursed inwardly.
Now it was Astoria's turn to stare at him. "What's that got to do with you?"
The wheels in Draco's mind turned crazily. "I – know his secret."
Astoria suddenly froze. Something clicked in Draco's mind. Jeremiah Greengrass must have something to hide.
"What do you know?" she whispered, her crystal-clear voice now shaking.
There was nothing Draco knew about Jeremiah Greengrass except that his wife was Lanneria Wentervale. Astoria would laugh at him if he said that, and the baby steps to his plan would fall flat. Yet, something in him was egging him on, besides, his mind wasn't unable to smoke through the fact that he only knew one thing. "I know about – his wife," said Draco, feeling foolish. "Lanneria Wentervale."
To Draco's surprise (not that he showed it), Astoria's face turned white. She stumbled backwards a bit.
"You couldn't have known..." she whispered, clearly in shock.
Draco was confused. What was so shocking about knowing who Lanneria Wentervale was?
Then it dawned upon him. Nobody should have known that Lanneria Wentervale existed. Everybody in the wizarding world knew about Maldash Wentervale, and to Voldemort's allies, he was dangerous and dastardly. If anybody was close to Wentervale, surely they would have been eliminated. Therefore, Lanneria, as his half-sister, should also have been hauled in for interrogation, and subsequently... yet, if that was the case, then how did Snape know...?
"You haven't replied me," said Draco, curling his lip for effect. "How is he related to you?"
Astoria's eyes narrowed. "I'm not telling you."
Draco snarled and rolled up his sleeve fiercely. The repulsive black mass on his forearm was shocking, and Astoria took another step backwards, her eyes filled with horror. The Greengrass family were not Death Eaters, neither did they take sides, so it was still quite a shock for Astoria to see the Dark Mark staring up at her in real life. "I'm not going to hurt you, Astoria, as long as you tell me the truth. I can promise not to tell the Dark Lord about this if you cooperate, but if you don't..." He left the sentence hanging like a death sentence.
Astoria stared. "He can't tell that you know about this?"
Draco cursed inwardly again. "That's none of your business. Even if he can tell, it already means Lanneria and Jeremiah are dead meat because the Dark Lord can find out their relation to you faster than you are going to tell me."
"You need to tell me why you need to know this for, and how you knew about this," replied Astoria, trembling. "Or else I'd be betraying them."
Damn, this girl is sharp all right.
Draco didn't know whether to trust her.
"As you have already pointed out, it doesn't make a difference whether I tell you or not, since I can't tell if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named knows about this already," said Astoria, as coolly as she could manage. "If you refuse to tell me what I want to know, then I'm sorry I'm of no help to you either."
Draco stared after her as she tossed her auburn hair and stalked to the staircase winding downwards to the girls' dormitory. Gritting his teeth, he fell back into the armchair. His fists were clenched and shaking. I was so close to knowing the truth!
At any case, he had found out that Lanneria Wentervale must be hiding behind a new identity, and it was quite likely that she must know where Maldash Wentervale was. If he could track her down, perhaps he could find out where this man was, and learn what made Lucius let him go, resulting in his murder. Perhaps, he could also find out the secrets... what exactly did Lucius mean by seven cuts across him, labyrinth, ring and all?
But to his dismay, he couldn't figure out – for the life of him – how he would convince Lanneria Wentervale to tell him the whereabouts of her half-brother.
Even worse – how on earth was he going to track her down in the first place?
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Hermione walked down the area to the frozen lake, where a few people were skating across it with glee. There was no more snow, the weather was less freezing, and the holes that were starting to appear at the corner of the lake were surely signs of a warmer temperature to come.
Her sharp eyes scanned the perimeter of the lake. She always saw Daphne Greengrass with a few of her Slytherin girlfriends sitting under a tree, laughing at some of the Slytherin boys who were attempting to attract them with their pathetic stunts on ice. It seemed that Pansy Parkinson no longer hung around them as leader... but Hermione couldn't be bothered to think about Pansy at the moment.
Hermione saw one of the skaters trip after a ridiculous spin, and a fresh burst of tinkling laughter came, drawing her attention to a bunch of girls sitting under a bare tree.
She walked closer, but noticed that Daphne Greengrass was not there. Frowning, she began to walk towards the bunch, but was stopped by a figure who was sauntering down the icy slope. Daphne Greengrass' brown hair was darker than Hermione's, but they had a lovely wave that her curls could never achieve, which Hermione privately acknowledged she was jealous of. Upon seeing Hermione, Daphne's face contorted into a scowl.
"What are you doing, staring at my girlfriends from afar, Mudblood? Jealous of them?"
Hell no, Hermione scowled back. For some reason, when the derogatory term was used by the other Slytherins, it seemed so petty compared to –
"Or you want to take points from us for a ridiculous reason that you're about to spin? Want me to help you with it?"
"Why would I be jealous of you and your girlfriends when all you all do is to while away your time flirting with boys who cannot even balance on ice?" asked Hermione, rolling her eyes as Theodore Nott attempted another spin and fell flat on his face, eliciting another string of giggles from the girls.
"Well, it's okay if Theo's not good on ice, he was marvellous with his broom just now," said Daphne, airily. "And he's going to try out for Seeker in the next trial, so you might want to tell Potter the Potty to be a bit careful! Today's win was just a fluke, so watch your back!"
Theo is trying out for Seeker? What about Malfoy? But Hermione shook the thought off. Something on Daphne's neck was gleaming and Hermione frowned when she saw it.
"Jewelry's illegal during school hours, Greengrass, I thought you'd be aware of the basic reasons why I should take points off Slytherin instead of trying to think up creative ones for me. Five points off!"
Daphne's pompous look turned into that of anger. "It's not jewelry, you nitwit, it's a family heirloom, so get off my back if you know nothing. You can check with Professor Snape." Her voice turned sweet and sticky. "I got permission from him."
Hermione had no intention of looking to Snape for a little thing like that. "Whoever gave it to you must have had bad taste – it's such a pretty thing placed on an airhead." She was a bit stunned at how brazen she was, but Daphne's attitude was really annoying her.
Daphne turned crimson. "Insult me if you want, don't insult my Grandma Lily!" Her shouts drew the attention of everyone around, who were now staring at her and Hermione.
Lily. Harry's mother's name. Hermione could imagine Harry cringing at his mother's namesake being one of the Greengrasses, who couldn't possibly be any better than the girl standing in front of her.
"Hey Daph!" shouted Theodore, clambering up from the ice. "You should tell your Grandma to change her name. It's Potter's mother's name! Such blasphemy!"
Hermione's face grew hot with anger. How dare he...
"I told her to!" cried Daphne, in a nasal voice. "What with Grandpa's name sounding like Potter's father as well, when I hear it I feel as if the Potters were transplanted into my household, it's absolutely infuriating." She glared at Hermione, with an odd look of triumph mixed into it. "James and Lily Potter. Absolute filth compared to Jeremiah and Lily Greengrass!"
Jeremiah Greengrass.
Hermione could feel her heart thumping wildly.
Jeremiah and Lily Greengrass... Jeremiah and Lanneria... wait - unless...
She turned away, sick to the stomach with Daphne's insults, and yet, a mad flow of adrenaline rushing through her. She had to find Draco Malfoy... she had to find him. Now.
"Bye, Mudblood, you ought to repeat word for word to Potter about this!" shouted Daphne after her, her sickly sweet voice revolting. "Oh and I heard he just got himself a girlfriend, hasn't he? That carrot-head blood traitor of a Weasley. Mind they don't end up procreating some freakazoid!" She burst into hyena-like laughter, whilst the other girls clambered up to her excitedly. "Potter's got a girlfriend? The Weasley girl? Are you serious...!"
Hermione tried to block out all of the insults, her walk breaking into a run, and she sped through the hallways of Hogwarts.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Astoria fingered the chain around her neck, lifting it up above her face to see the sparkle of the jewel as she lay flat on her bed. The beautifully crafted emerald was clutched in silver claws, and it sparkled and swirled with glittery lines. She ran a thumb over the jewel and sighed. It made her think of the person who gave it to her.
She remembered her grandmother slipping the chains over the necks of her sister and her, whispering urgently they must never take it off for their own safety, and that things had been explained to the Headmaster to allow them to wear it. Professor Dumbledore had not publicised the matter, only telling Astoria and Daphne to refer anybody who objected to their wearing of the chain to their Head of House, Professor Snape, and to refer to the jewel as a family heirloom. It would seem as though they were just taking precautions against the boy who would most likely become a Death-Eater within the walls of Hogwarts – Draco Malfoy.
But it was more than that.
Still, it seemed as though the excuse would prove true after all. Draco Malfoy was dangerous. Anybody who knew was dangerous.
Why did things have to turn out this way?
The door swung open to reveal giggles and laughter. Astoria looked up and saw her sister saunter in with some of the fifth- and sixth-year Slytherin girls. Upon seeing Astoria, Daphne squealed and flounced over to Astoria's bed, eyeing her sister gleefully. "Did you hear the news? That Potter has a girlfriend?"
"Girlfriend?" Astoria raised her eyebrows. "No."
"It's that Weasley girl," smirked Daphne. "Oh what fodder for the gossip mill! I'm itching to..."
"Break them up?" Astoria threw her sister a disgusted look. "Daph, don't you have better things to do?"
"Not really," sniffed Daphne. "Unless you count arguing with that Mudblood of a Granger. Do you know what that horrible girl did just now? She insulted Grandma Lily in front of me!"
Astoria's heart skipped a beat. "What? What did she say?"
"She said whoever gave me our jewel had no taste to give it to me," scoffed Daphne. "So I retaliated and said that it's such an insult Potter's parents have similar names to our grandparents. James and Lily Potter – complete filth compared to Jeremiah and Lily Greengrass. That's exactly what I said. Took the wind out of her sails, I should think."
She was insulting YOU, you stupid girl, thought Astoria. However, she took hold of Daphne's hand suddenly, startling her sister.
"We should stop mentioning our grandparents too much, Daph," she said, in a low voice. "Somebody's bound to find out sooner or later."
"Like who?" demanded Daphne, suddenly quieter.
Astoria figured it was best not to frighten Daphne, so she merely said, "We just have to be careful. Like Draco Malfoy is in our House, that's a good enough reason. If he finds out, we're all dead meat."
Daphne rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid, Ria," she said, and left to go to her bed.
Astoria stared after her sister, her heart sinking. They were already pretty much going to be – dead meat.