Tied Up With Strings
Summary: Draco Malfoy, like a string puppet, obeys his father. But this time, a certain brunette wanders into his life, throwing everything out of order. Will he continue under his father's control or will he act on his own- for once?
Chapter 3
Author's Note: I myself do not know whether this type of fanfic has been done before. If it has, and my fanfic plays any sort of resemblance or anything, I'm very sorry about not being aware of that. I apologise for this, yet I'd like to say that it was entirely coincidental/accidental as I had no idea it's already been done.
Thank you.
Hermione was staring into his grey eyes, saw something she couldn't explain. It was as though it wasn't even Draco she was looking at. His eyes were wide and determined; she was certain he meant to kill her. But she could see a little bit of something…something else, peeking out from beyond the hollow shadowy orbs in split second intervals. In those moments he looked genuinely fearful, or just plain genuine.
Now she stayed frozen against the wall, the tip of his nose touching hers. His wand was pressed into the base of her neck. He could feel her shaking, then realised he was shaking as well. Neither dared to even breathe.
Minutes, long and torturous, went by. He was panting with sweat dripping down his face. He dropped his wand arm down to his side; the other stayed pressed against the wall by her head a few more seconds, before slipping down as well. He took one small step back. He closed his eyes, head pounding and feeling sick.
Then-
"Draco!"
Pansy caught him, just before his body hit the stone floor. She sank to the ground, tucking her feet under her, settling him on her knees.
"Hermione?" Harry and Ron appeared next to her, so quickly it was as though they had Apparated.
"We heard someone screaming," Ron explained, gaze flickering to the unconscious student. He fingered his wand, glaring at the boy. "What happened? Did he hurt you?"
"You okay?" Harry asked softly. He placed a hand on her shoulder, gently forcing her to calm her nerves. She didn't answer either of them; her stare focused on Draco.
He was lying in Pansy's lap, out cold. His arms hung limp, wand for the moment forgotten on the stone floor. A thin trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth down the side of his chin. Pansy held him close to her, moving him slightly in toward her so his head rested against her chest. She glared at Hermione.
"What the hell did you do to him, Granger?"
"The question is what he did to her," Ron snapped back immediately. "I swear, if he laid one finger-,"
"He's the one knocked unconscious!" Pansy cried in outrage. "He could be seriously hurt! Do you know what kind of trouble you all will get in for attacking a student?"
"Attacking!" Ron exclaimed. "Attacking! You're one to talk about that! You and your kind-,"
"Draco didn't do anything!"
"He deserved what he got!"
Pansy let go of Draco abruptly, causing his head to fall back, and reached for her wand. Ron already had his out.
"Don't," Harry interrupted, grabbing on to the sleeve of his best friend's cloak.
"Let go, Harry!" the redhead snarled, gritting his teeth.
"Ron, stop it. Think of Hermione."
Ron paused then, shifting his hard gaze to the girl behind him.
Hermione was still stuck in the same position along the wall. Her face was a deadly pale, large brown eyes wide open. Her mouth was trying to form a word, but she couldn't get herself to speak. She was staring at Draco's still form, still in shock, then turned to look at Ron. Carefully, she shook her head.
He lowered his hand.
"Potter!" Professor McGonagall entered the now silent scene. "Just what is going on here?"
"Professor-,"
Pansy cut Harry short with her shrill voice.
"Look what they've done to Draco! He's hurt!"
McGonagall took the situation quite well, considering the circumstances.
"Get him to the Infirmary immediately," she ordered. "Have Madame Pomfrey give the both of them some potions and let them stay the night. Potter, a word, if you would."
Harry nodded, wondering if McGonagall really did think they had attacked Draco and hoping he wasn't about to get in trouble.
The teacher waited until the other four had disappeared from view before settling her eyes on Harry.
"Mr. Potter, I assume you had nothing to do with this?"
"We- Ron and me- heard someone screaming, Professor. We came to see who it was, and we found Hermione standing there, with Malfoy on the floor in Pansy's lap. Then you came. That's all, Professor, I swear that's the truth-,"
"Calm down, Potter, I'm not accusing you of anything," she waved his nervousness away. "Are you sure that's it?"
"Yes, positive. I don't know anything else, but if you'd let me talk to 'Mione, I might figure out what happened."
"Do so if you think you can benefit from it, Potter, but you needn't inform me of it. I've heard enough." With that, she turned on her heel and walked away. He watched her leave, pondering over what she could have meant by that. He shrugged it away, then hurried in the direction of the Infirmary.
Hermione pushed back the bed sheets and climbed in.
"You guys can come in now," she said, settling herself comfortably in the bed. She felt fine, now that she'd got out of her shock with a good dose of chocolate. But she still couldn't shake off that funny feeling she had in the pit of her stomach.
Harry and Ron appeared from behind the curtains, both watching her with great concern.
"You sure you're all right?" Harry asked, not willing to believe her for a second.
"Yes, of course I'm fine. I don't know why Madame Pomfrey wants me to spend the night, since I feel much better thanks to that chocolate." She smiled up at them. "Nothing like a god bit of candy, right?"
They stared at her as though she was some sort of mutated fish-woman.
"You're too happy," Ron observed. "Perhaps you've had more sugar than you ought to."
"I'm just fine," she lied. "Stop fretting, will you?"
"Can't, sorry," Harry sat down on the edge of her bed while Ron took the chair.
"Are you going to tell us what happened or not?" Ron leaned forward, resting his chin in his palm, elbow propped up on his knee. He cocked his head to one side, eyebrow raised. "Surely you don't expect us to just forget about it all?"
"Sometimes I wish you would," Hermione admitted, though secretly a little happy to have friends that were that concerned about her. "Oh, all right. I was coming back from the library and was heading up to meet you two so we could go to Hogsmeade. Oh-! I almost forgot! We can't go, now can we-?"
"Never mind the bloody village," Ron waved it away impatiently.
"Yeah," Harry grinned. "Don't think you can get away with trying to change the subject."
"I wasn't! But, anyway, moving on-,"
"Please," Ron murmured.
"Do you want me to finish or not?"
"It was a joke! Go on."
"As I was saying, I was going to meet you when the doors and everything began changing and I got lost."
"Ah, I see. You didn't have Hogwarts, A History with you then, did you?"
"Ron!"
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding."
"And so, I ended up waking up these two knights that were…a little cranky. But then Malfoy showed up, waved his wand around, and froze the knights so the both of us could get out without being sliced up."
"Malfoy did that?"
"Stop commenting! Honestly, why aren't you the sports commentator for the Quidditch matches? You'd give Lee Jordan a run for his money."
"I know," Ron looked rather proud.
Harry rolled his eyes.
"Can we please get back on track?"
"Harry's right, Ron, so be quiet and listen to me. Right, anyway, between the two of us we ended up getting more lost than before. I was about to find a way to get us back on the right course when Malfoy went all psychotic and tried to kill me."
Ron shook his head; his eyes lost the usual playful teasing look.
"He didn't touch you, did he?"
"No, nothing like that. It was really weird; I can barely explain it. It was like…like he was trying to stop himself from doing what he was supposed to do, but couldn't. Of course, in the end, he managed to stop and knocked himself out in the process, but still…"
"Is that all?" Harry asked.
"That's it."
He frowned.
"What do you suppose was wrong with him?"
"I don't know. I still can't understand why he tried to attack me in the first place. It was just sort of out of the blue."
"Who knows what the idiot is thinking?" Ron pointed out. "Was probably just taking advantage of the situation by trying to kill you. Bloody Slytherins…"
"Well, we'll let you alone now," Harry stood.
"Yeah, and don't worry, 'Mione. We'll keep a look out."
"Get some rest, okay?"
"I won't if you two don't quit yacking and leave."
Ron held up his hands in defence and backed away.
"You need your space, we understand. The whole monthly woman thing."
"Ron!"
"Mr. Weasley! Mr. Potter!" Madame Pomfrey's disapproving voice barked at them.
"That's our que," Harry interrupted hastily, grabbing Ron by the back of the cloak and waving good-bye as he dragged his friend out with him.
Hermione waved, laughing. The nurse poked her head inside the curtains and watched her suspiciously. She shook her head.
"You need female friends your own age," Madame Pomfrey advised. "Boys are nothing but desperate, disillusioned trouble. Especially at sixteen."
Hermione nodded, pretending to agree until the woman left. Perhaps she did need to spend more time with Lavender or Parvathi or Ginny. But really, she liked it best when she was with Harry and Ron. There was just something there…
Like there was something in Malfoy's eyes.
What was it? What had she seen? Fear? Malice? She didn't know and probably never would.
She lay down, pulling the bed sheets up to her chin. Still, at that moment, he looked different. Very different. As though he had lost a part of him- and found something more.
Draco groggily opened his eyes, squinting. He was lying on one of the beds in the hospital wing, the cold sheets neatly spread over his body. He tried to move one hand up to his throbbing forehead, but found that the sheets had been tucked in so tightly he could barely breathe.
Pansy.
Of course. She always did this. If he wasn't feeling well, she'd take care of him in the dorms, even if she wasn't allowed in. He always remembered the touch of her hand on his cheek, brushing away his bangs when he fell asleep after an especially exhausting trial.
A small smile slipped onto his face uninvited, then quickly disappeared.
He tugged at the covers until they finally gave way and sat up. He was by himself, the curtains drawn. The lights were dim and the castle silent. His head was still pounding as though someone was hitting him with a hammer. He closed his eyes, bringing his hand to face. He winced as he accidentally brushed his fingers on his tender mouth, still raw from when he had bitten his tongue.
Then he remembered what happened.
He scowled (then winced), recalling the events that led up to the situation. Thanks to the idiotic Granger, he could barely move his mouth, and probably wouldn't be able to think straight for a while.
That had been the worst one so far. He didn't remember his entire body hurting as much as it did now. But then, all the other times he hadn't-
His eyes widened.
He'd stopped himself.
He hadn't hurt her. He made himself stop. He forced himself in control.
Then that would mean…Could he actually do things on his own? Defy his father's commands? And have it feel this good?
Well, he didn't actually feel good so to speak; rotten was the better choice. But he felt something…
Why did he stop himself? If he hadn't, there would be one less Mudblood to foul the plans of pure wizarding world. If he hadn't, it would have meant recognition from the Death eaters, his father. If he hadn't, he would be siting in Azkaban, waiting for his father to bail him out.
He didn't especially long for the empty, demoralising cells of the infamous wizarding prison. Maybe that was why he had stopped.
Or maybe it was something else.
Draco peered through the curtains, caught sight of Hermione, sleeping a few feet away. He watched her, feeling something funny inside of him.
The strings. The puppet strings. They were coming undone.
Or were they?
Author's Note: I don't know if I should go on or do something else. I really can't think of another single thing to add to this fanfic…
So I guess this is all…