Chapter Seventeen
One week later
Hermione eyed the potion that Lavender was mixing with apprehension. She was getting ready to- well, to fall asleep, and do some professional dreaming. She lay back on her bed, and Lavender sat down beside her.
"Now, remember, Hermione," Lavender was saying as she put the finishing touches on the bluish-purple goo. "I'll be with you the whole time, you just can't see me. I'll be able to pull you back quite easily if need be." She handed the potion to Hermione, who held it to her nose and gave it a cautious sniff. It smelled vaguely like blueberries. She finally held it to her mouth and swallowed.
"Hmmm," Hermione said, putting the glass down. "That was nice." She yawned sleepily. This potion worked fast, it seemed. Lavender took her hands as she fell back and closed her eyes. She was asleep within seconds.
A few moments later, Hermione's consciousness came around, inside a dark hallway, as usual. She could feel a presence at her side- Lavender, she assumed- but could see no one. She glanced around her, looking for the hallway she would have to go down to find her friends. There it was. She turned and began to walk towards it.
And stopped. She thought she could hear voices, coming from a chamber on one side of the tunnel. She walked towards it, listening hard.
"…He is weak, Lucius." The voice was high and cold.
"But I have trained him all I can." The second voice was one she recognized- Lucius Malfoy. Hermione fought the urge to spit on the floor. "There is no more that I can teach him, my Lord. I leave him in your capable hands." There was only one person that Malfoy called "my Lord". The other voice was Lord Voldemort.
"Are you trying to dispose of him on me, Lucius?" The Dark Lord's voice was silky and dangerous. "Because if you want to dispose of him, we can simply kill him."
"No, my Lord, no!" Malfoy cried. "I would not do such a thing! My son has great potential as a Death Eater. I would not deprive you of such a servant."
That was a mistake. "Do you mean to tell me that you are going soft for your son, Lucius?" If Voldemort's voice had been dangerous, it was now deadly. "If I wanted to kill him now, would your protests be out of loyalty to your master or love-" At this point he gave a slight sneer. "-For your son?"
"Loyalty, my Lord, loyalty!" Malfoy gasped. "I wanted to kill him as a baby, it was you, my Lord, who told me to keep him. You said he would be-"
He was cut short, and Hermione could hear gagging noises. Stifilus Charm, she thought, nauseous. Dear God.
Malfoy's body fell out into the hallway, unconscious. She took a step backwards, and jumped aside as she noticed someone else walking down the hallway.
It was Draco Malfoy. He was wearing battered black robes, and e was paler than usual- unless you counted the bruises that spattered his face and exposed arms. His hair was dirty and unkept, containing what looked like old blood. She danced out of his way, but he didn't seem to see her.
Draco stopped when he saw his father's body on the floor, then walked over to where he lay. He stared at the man for a moment, then swore quietly and kept walking. Hermione watched him go, curious.
Again, she felt Lavender's presence at her back, pushing her forward. She shook her head and continued following her original course, until she reached the door to Harry and Ginny's cell. She knew what was in there, but couldn't bring herself to look. She knew Lavender had gone past her and was looking in the door. Hermione turned back to where Malfoy was lying, curious as to what had happened. But Lavender was beside her again, pulling her back into sleep.
Hermione opened her eyes again, staring at the ceiling. Lavender was jotting something down in a small notebook. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What did you do?" she asked her friend.
Lavender put down her book and pushed hair out of her eyes. "I followed your astral body in my own, and was able to see the general place where they are being held." She began to clear up the ingredients of the potion, humming the melody of a song Hermione didn't know.
"Lavender," Hermione began quietly, and she looked up. "Last week- before he left- I saw Ron coming out of the girls' dorm-"
"I saw him," her friend replied absently.
"What was he doing?" Hermione finished. "Is he even allowed in there?"
"No more than you are in his room," Lavender retorted. "And Dean caught you in there." She put a rack of phials in a box and closed the top.
"But what was he doing?"
Lavender stopped for a moment and considered. "He asked me what kind of shampoo you used," she said. "And then he asked where you kept it. He had a little bottle with him, like the kind you get from the hotel, and he put some of your strawberry stuff in it, then took off."
Hermione frowned. "Oh." She stood up and stretched, then straightened her jeans. "OK. Let's