The five teens stood huddled together in the empty Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, all holding their DA coin up to Hermione.
"Here," Hermione said after a flick of her wand. "Now we'll all be able to send messages to each other."
Luna, the only non-Gryffindor to show up, inspected her coin approvingly and send out a test message. Immediately the other coins began to heat up. Just like at the ministry, it read. Neville let out a nervous chuckle and put the coin in his pocket.
"At least we'll do better this time," Ron shivered. Apart from the fact that there would be no time bubbles, blood thirsty brains or cryptic prophecies, they had the Felix Felicis to share. Hermione had taken her potion kit with her and divided the golden liquid in five portions. "This will give us each about 2,5 hours of luck. Use it wisely," she advised.
Ron shot Ginny an angry glare when she moved to take one of the bottles. She had caught them just before they had left the Gryffindor Tower and had demanded to come with.
"Mum'll kill me," Ron had called in exasperation, but there was no stopping his sister when she had gotten something in her head.
"Well, if you won't let me come I'll go to McGonagall," she had grinned, knowing she had the upper hand. Ron had grudgingly given in, still casting her worried glances now and then.
"Ginny, I want you and Neville to hold watch outside Snape's office. Harry thinks Snape is in on it," Ron said, trying to adapt and authoritative tone, hoping his sister, for once, would comply.
"I don't need you to watch out for me!" she snapped at Ron, clearly very aware that she had been assigned the safest task. An uncomfortable silence took hold of the group as the two siblings started a glaring contest, until Neville tugged softly at Ginny's arm and whispered something in her ear.
"Fine, I'll go," she reluctantly gave in. "But you'll warn me if something happens, right?" Ron, bewildered by this sudden change in his sisters behaviour, nodded meekly.
"Okay," Hermione quickly jumped in and pulled the attention back to the task division, "while Neville and Ginny keep watch downstairs, we will go to the Room of Requirement, in case Malfoy …is up to something," she said and tried not to imagine the worst. Ron, at first had wanted her to go down with Ginny, but she had refused. If Malfoy really was planning something then she needed a chance to tell him about the alternative.
Before Neville and Ginny exited the classroom Ron pulled Neville aside, curious. "What did you say to convince her?" he asked. Neville turned a positive shade of red.
"I- er, I told her that I'd rather not be left alone with Snape, seeing as that this time picturing him into my grandmother's clothes won't have much effect." Ron had to hold back his laughter, immediately feeling bad for forgetting all about Neville's biggest fear. He remembered all to clearly how he had felt when Harry had dragged him into the heart of the Forbidden Forest only to nearly get eaten alive by a pack of huge, bloodthirsty spiders.
"We can still switch, if you'd rather?" Ron offered.
Neville shook his head, "I'll be fine."
"Wait," Ron hissed as they halted in a corridor. Holding the Marauder's Map he was trying to guide them safely towards the seventh floor. The whole castle seemed to be filled with members of the Order, which was a relief, of course, but also made it rather difficult for them to sneak around.
After a near run-in with Kingsley Shacklebolt – they had hidden behind an ugly tapestry of a Goblin riding a two-headed dragon – they finally arrived in front of the tapestry of the dancing Trolls.
"How are you sure he is in there," Luna asked, staring at the wall opposite of the tapestry. As Ron was busy keeping Neville and his sister up to date about the members of the Order roaming the lower floors, it fell to Hermione to explain about the map.
"We don't talk much," Luna said simply, responding to Hermione's surprise that Harry hadn't told her about the map.
She wasn't sure whether that meant they were too busy doing other things or that their relationship wasn't that serious at all. She had to talk to Harry about it. She liked Luna, even though she was a bit weird, and had seen her blossoming, coming out of her bubble, while she was with Harry. She would hate for that to break just because Harry felt like 'exploring'. On the other hand, Harry wasn't that kind of person, he cared deeply for his friends and would die before seeing them get hurt. Just because she had had a few bad experiences with boys so far didn't mean all boys where like that. Take Victor, they hadn't talked much either, but she knew he genuinely cared for her and they still wrote each other, occasionally.
Hermione and Luna had both taken place on either side of the corridor while Ron was hiding behind a suit of armour somewhere in the middle. As she stared at the brick wall hiding the Room of Requirement she could no longer put off worrying about Draco. Sure, she worried about him a lot, but if what Harry said was true, she should be fearing for his life. If she could just talk to him, persuade him to quit this nonsense of assassination and other evil deeds.
Ron stifled a shout of triumph which surely meant Ginny and Neville had finally made it. Underneath his snappy remarks Ron had always been proud of his little sister, though you would not hear him admit that any time soon.
Seconds turned to minutes which turned to hours. Hermione kept nervously twitching her wand between her fingers, thinking of all the things she could say to Draco. Three words kept playing through her mind, meaning something she was not ready to admit just yet. Between staring at the hands of her watch - which seemed to be slowing down time rather then showing it – and being left alone with her own disaster-filled thoughts, Hermione was climbing the walls.
After what seemed to be half a lifetime, but in reality was only an hour, a door started to form in the bricks in front of the dancing trolls. Hermione quickly send a mild stinging hex to Ron, who had fallen asleep, and nodded towards the door. Luna had already seen it.
Before all the floral details on the door had finished it opened a creak. Someone poked his head around, quickly retreating again. Hermione exchanged nervous glances with the others and motioned for them to take their Felix Felicis. Ron nodded, acknowledging that this was it, took the potion and kept his wand at the ready. When the door opened again, before any of them could do anything, there was a 'poof' and quickly they were immersed in an impenetrable darkness.
"Lumos," Hermione tried, listening to the others two attempt the same, but no light appeared.
It did not take Ron long to recognize the twin's product. "Curse it, Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder," he bit.
There were footsteps and whispers, and Hermione felt the hairs at the back of her neck rise as she realised Draco had not come alone.
"Stupify," Ron shouted and Hermione heard the spell collide with stone a few meters left from her. Amused laughter came from the darkness, worryingly close to Hermione. She wanted to tell him to do nothing, but she was too busy slinking back against the wall. Loosing her vision like that left her depending on her other senses, and what they were telling her didn't particularly ease her mind. Especially not the sound of multiple footsteps coming her way.
Suddenly she bumped into something, her cry of surprise muffled by the clammy hand put on her mouth.
"Hey, hey, it's me, Draco," his familiar voice whispered and she ceased to struggle. "I'm going to take my hand away now. Don't scream, okay?" She could feel his breath against her cheeks, his fingers digging into her skin. She nodded and his hand disappeared. For a moment she was uncertain of his presence until he put his hand on her shoulder, guiding her to make an image in her mind of how he stood in front of her.
"What have you done," she said anxiously, her ears straining to hear anything else. Once again she heard a bash of laughter, a little further away this time. The group had already moved past her, penetrating the castle.
"Look, it isn't safe, OK. Take your friends and go back to bed," he told her, urgency apparent in his voice.
"Draco, you know I can't," she couldn't stop her voice from breaking. Was it already too late?
"You have too, Hermione. You don't understand!" he pressed, the panic he felt expressed so very clearly. She couldn't be here. All the times he had shunned her, avoided her, because he knew that if he didn't he wouldn't be able to complete his task, fearing what she might think of him. He had tried to hate her, forget about her, focusing only on the importance of what lay ahead. But here she was and the thought of staying with her was just so tempting. He wanted to take her in his arms, kiss her, see the light in her eyes one more time, and at the same time stay hidden in this darkness, together, forever.
"You don't have to do this. Dumbledore can help you, and your family. Please, Draco," she pleaded, biting back tears. He wanted to tell her he was making a better world, but he had stopped believing that a long time ago. Somehow he just wasn't able to stop moving in this direction. He had already been led to far down the path, burning all the bridges behind him. If he couldn't follow the Dark Lord, what would his purpose be? Who would he be? No one. He was Draco Malfoy, fighting for a righteous cause.
"I made my choice, Hermione. I just needed to see you one last time." A sudden calmness swept over him. This was what he was meant to do. He would complete his task, exonerate his father, and clear the Malfoy name.
In the eerie blue light that shone from the candle held by the Hand of Glory he saw a single tear roll over Hermione's face. Softly he wiped it away with his thumb and pressed his lips against her forehead.
"Go back to bed, Granger," he said, pulling away from her. This was how it had always meant to be. No doubt crossed his mind that he was doing the right thing. In a few moments it would all be over. He would be respected, admired. And with sure strides he caught up with his fellow Death Eaters, ready to join them in their cause of pain and destruction. All parts of him that had ever cared about Hermione Granger locked away, buried deep, the keys destroyed.
A/N OeF. Thoughts?
(Major thanks to Snowflake Dazzle for your kind reviews)
PS: Next chapter won't take as long, already got most of it written.