CHAPTER 10
They walked back to their common room together. "Did you see Potthead's face?" Draco asked.
"When you beat him or when I gave him the finger and called him Potthead?" she grinned evilly.
"Both. He was totally shocked. When you gave him the finger though, he looked like he wanted to kill you."
"Darkness is Forever."
When they entered the common room, they saw three owls waiting for them. "Which one should I open first?" he asked himself.
He took the one from Lucius first. It said:
Dear Draco, At first hearing that you loved a muggle came as a real Shock. But I am not going to kill you. I am very pleased That you are returning to the Dark Lord and that you are Bringing the smartest witch in the school with you. Never Attempt to leave again, that was very disappointing to hear. However, you are coming back, so I will not punish you. The Next meeting is Sunday, the fifth of November. Meet me in The Astronomy Tower at 7 pm. We will be meeting out in a Clearing past the Forbidden Forrest. Bring your broom with You, we will be flying. I suspect that you and the girl will Be flying together. I will see you Sunday night. I'm very Glad that you have returned.
Your Father
"Okay, so he won't kill us," said Draco with a slight hint of happiness in his voice.
"I told you it would be okay."
"I know, I know. Now let's see what ol' Voldie has to say."
Draco, I fully understand your need to have denounced me. You Will not be punished for this. Do not worry about the Dark Mark, both you and the girl will receive it after Graduation. I suspect that your father has already informed You about when the next meeting is. I will warn you that The next time your loyalty wavers, you will be punished. Do I make myself clear?
Lord Voldemort
"So I'm still not dead," Draco said.
"And you're not gunna be. Who would possibly dream about killing someone as adorable as you?"
"I'm sure not everyone shares the same ideas as you. I know that Potthead and Weasel wanna kill me."
"Yeah, well they're assholes."
Draco grabbed the last letter from the remaining owl.
Dear Draco, It doesn't really bother me that you're going back to the Dark Lord. I know that you are only doing what you feel Is right and I'm not going to stop you. I wasn't planning On telling anyone until after graduation, but I too am Joining Voldemort. I will be at the meeting on Sunday. I'm already 18 so I will be apparating there. See you Sunday.
Your friend, Cephius
"What the hell is he thinking?! He told me that he wasn't into the Dark Arts!"
"Maybe something happened at his school or something," Hermione tried to reassure him.
"Maybe, but I still wanna know what's really going on. He always swore he wouldn't choose sides. He swore he'd remain neutral."
"Well, I guess you'll find out tomorrow. Try not to worry about it right now."
"Yeah, I guess. You wanna go to lunch? I'm starving and can use a good meal."
"Sure, but uh don't you wanna change outta your Quidditch robes first?"
"That'd probably be a good idea. I'll be down in a few minutes."
Hermione nodded and watched him retreat up the stairs.
In his room, Draco searched through his trunk until he found baggy black jeans and a Good Charlotte shirt. When he was about to close his trunk, he noticed the ring again. This time when he put it on, he saw something totally different than he had seen previously.
^ It was Draco and Hermione's wedding. Everybody who was there was a Death Eater. When they walked out of the chapel, they were stopped by Voldemort. He said, "You know what you must do."
"Yes My Lord," they answered, then got into the limo and drove away. ^ After that everything returned to normal. This time instead of throwing the ring back in his trunk, he brought it downstairs and showed it to Hermione. He told her the three images he had seen when he put it on.
"It sounds like it changes whenever your priorities change," Hermione said thoughtfully.
"You put it on. See what it shows you."
When Hermione put the ring on, it looked like she went into some kind of trance. Her body started shaking and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. A few seconds later, she snapped out of it.
"What'd you see?" he asked anxiously.
"The same thing you saw a few minutes ago. It appears to show the future as if your priorities stay the same as the moment you put it on. I suggest not using it, you'll probably end up going insane."
"You're probably right, as always." Draco ran upstairs and threw the ring back in his trunk once again.
When he got back down to the common room, he took Hermione's hand and led her down to the Great Hall for lunch. By the time they got there almost everyone was gone, so they both sat at the Slytherin table. A few students who were left from Slytherin and Gryffindor glared at them, but they didn't notice. And if they did they pretended not to.
"I didn't know you listened to muggle music," Hermione said looking down at his shirt.
"Yeah, I do. I like punk rock. Good Charlotte is one of my favorite bands."
"Mine too. I love punk music, which explains why I dress the way I do."
Draco looked down at her clothes and noticed that she was wearing the same pants as him and a Fox Racing shirt.
"That would explain that." He smirked. "So what's your favorite band?"
"Well, it's hard to choose just one favorite. But I like Jimmy Eat World, Good Charlotte, New Found Glory, MXPX, Unwritten Law, Anti-Flag, Blink 182, Boxcar Racer, Green Day, and Metallica. I think you get the point," she stopped although she could've kept going. "There's others, but if I told you every band I liked we'd be here all day."
"Yeah, probably. Come on let's take a walk, it's so boring in here."
"Okay," she agreed.
Hermione and Draco walked around the giant lake a few times. Draco explained what most of the meetings he had been to were like. She was kind of nervous, but he assured her that she had nothing to worry about because Voldemort keeps his promises and he promised not to harm them.
On the way back up to their common room, Hermione was pulled into an empty classroom and since Draco was holding her hand he was pulled with her.
"What d' you want, Potter?" she spat at him.
"I want to talk to you without The Famous Bouncing Ferret here."
"No! He stays and he's not a ferret. Watch your mouth! Last time you and Ron wanted to 'talk' to me I almost killed myself. Draco stays."
"Fine! Why are you acting so weird lately?" he asked.
"I'm not the one who's acting weird! That's you and Ron. Since the beginning of the year, you haven't realized that I fell in love. You are both totally oblivious to the fact that Draco makes me happy! When I did finally get down to the Gryffindor common room, Ron kisses me and you do absolutely nothing to stop it. You guys were obviously planning something, I could tell by the looks on your faces when I walked in. That was some obvious attempt on both your parts to get me to break up with Draco. Well, I got news for you, THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!" Hermione was fuming.
Harry, obviously afraid, stepped back a few steps and asked, "Why were you sitting in the Slytherin stands at the game?"
"Isn't that obvious, Potter?" Draco drawled.
"No it isn't you filthy ferret. Why don't you tell me," Harry commanded.
"We don't hafta take this bullshit. Come on 'Mione, this guy's a psycho."
They started to walk out the door. Harry shouted after them, "That's right! Go with him you filthy Mudblood! You should've been put in Slytherin in the first place you fucking slut!"
Hermione pulled her hand away from Draco's and smacked Harry hard. He winced in pain as tears welled up in his eyes.
"Don't ever call me Mudblood again!" she whispered vehemently at him. "I have the power and the desire to kill you right here and now. DON'T TEMPT ME!"
She stormed out of the room with Draco right behind her. He was staring at her, totally stunned.
"Hermione! I can't believe you just said that!"
"What? Hit him or threaten him?"
"Both. He almost cried when you smacked him."
Hermione smirked at him and he at her.
"I can't wait until tomorrow night," Hermione said once they were safe in their common room.
"Weren't you nervous about that like twenty minutes ago?"
"Well yeah, but that's only because I felt kinda bad for Potthead. Now I don't really care what happens to him. He's a typical asshole. We've been friends for over six years and now he decides that I'm a Mudblood. If he felt that way about me, he should've said so six years ago on the train and then I wouldn't have bothered with him."
"'Mione, like you said, he's an asshole. Don't worry about it. Tomorrow you'll meet new people who will treat you with the respect that you deserve. I mean, you will be the mother of Voldemort's heir."
"How do you know they'll treat me with respect? I am muggle-born you know. What if they treat me like common street trash?"
"They won't. I won't let them."
"Good." ~ The rest of the night and the next day went quickly. At 6:30, Draco grabbed his broom and he and Hermione headed for the Astronomy Tower.
Draco was giving her some last minute tips on the way up. "Remember, show no emotion. Look directly into his eyes when he speaks to you. Don't fidget. When he tortures somebody, don't wince, scream or look away because you'll be his next target. If he ever does torture you, and don't worry that won't happen tonight, try not to make a sound. It does hurt, but if you cry out the punishment will only last longer."
Hermione nodded her head. "Is that all?" she asked sarcastically. "That's not so much to remember."
"No sarcasm either, he doesn't appreciate it. He lacks a sense of humor."
They reached the Astronomy Tower and had ten minutes to spare before Lucius was scheduled to arrive. Since they had nothing to talk about, they decided to make out.
At 6:58, Lucius showed up. He cleared his throat loudly to make his presence known to them. They both stood up and blushed.
"I'm sure you took the liberty of explaining how these meetings run, Draco," Lucius inquired.
"Yes, Father. I went over everything."
"Ms Granger." He nodded at Hermione. "I'm glad that you decided to join us. Believe me, you will not regret this."
Hermione nodded and mounted Draco's broom behind him. Draco felt her wrap her arms around his waist and lean her head on his back.
Lucius took off through the same window he came through and Draco followed after him.
They flew in silence for an hour and a half. When Draco saw his father start to head downward, he followed closely. They landed in a clearing just beyond the Forbidden Forrest, where the meeting was to take place.
Draco looked around and noticed that they were the first people there. Within two minutes, Voldemort appeared with Peter Pettigrew. Draco watched as Voldemort pressed a long finger onto the Dark Mark on Peter's left arm. He saw it turn black and then there were popping noises heard all over. The Death Eaters began to fill in the circle.
Draco and Hermione stood off to the side to wait until they were called upon. Another cloaked figure walked over to them. When he reached them, he pulled off his hood.
"Cephius!" Draco said excitedly.
They hugged each other. "It's good to see you again, Draco."
"Yeah it is. But what the hell are you doing here? I thought you weren't into the Dark Arts."
"I'm defying my parents. They were the ones who were holding me back."
"I see." Draco paused then turned to Hermione. "Cephius, this is my girlfriend, Hermione. Hermione, this is Cephius."
Cephius shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Hermione."
"The pleasure's all mine, Cephius."
Cephius was slightly shorter than Draco and was slightly less built. He had pale skin (But still had more color that Draco), his hair and eyes were both black. All in all, he was pretty hot.
"So what else is new back in the states?" Draco asked him.
"Well, my girlfriend and I are going to transfer to Hogwarts probably before Christmas break."
"Sweet! So who's your girlfriend?"
"Her name's Elana Jenkins. We've been going out for almost a year-"
Before he could finish, Voldemort began to talk. "Today, we will be welcoming two new and one returning Death Eater that realized the mistake that he made. The returning Death Eater is Draco Malfoy. And the two new ones are Cephius Blacktree and Hermione Riddle."
They walked back to their common room together. "Did you see Potthead's face?" Draco asked.
"When you beat him or when I gave him the finger and called him Potthead?" she grinned evilly.
"Both. He was totally shocked. When you gave him the finger though, he looked like he wanted to kill you."
"Darkness is Forever."
When they entered the common room, they saw three owls waiting for them. "Which one should I open first?" he asked himself.
He took the one from Lucius first. It said:
Dear Draco, At first hearing that you loved a muggle came as a real Shock. But I am not going to kill you. I am very pleased That you are returning to the Dark Lord and that you are Bringing the smartest witch in the school with you. Never Attempt to leave again, that was very disappointing to hear. However, you are coming back, so I will not punish you. The Next meeting is Sunday, the fifth of November. Meet me in The Astronomy Tower at 7 pm. We will be meeting out in a Clearing past the Forbidden Forrest. Bring your broom with You, we will be flying. I suspect that you and the girl will Be flying together. I will see you Sunday night. I'm very Glad that you have returned.
Your Father
"Okay, so he won't kill us," said Draco with a slight hint of happiness in his voice.
"I told you it would be okay."
"I know, I know. Now let's see what ol' Voldie has to say."
Draco, I fully understand your need to have denounced me. You Will not be punished for this. Do not worry about the Dark Mark, both you and the girl will receive it after Graduation. I suspect that your father has already informed You about when the next meeting is. I will warn you that The next time your loyalty wavers, you will be punished. Do I make myself clear?
Lord Voldemort
"So I'm still not dead," Draco said.
"And you're not gunna be. Who would possibly dream about killing someone as adorable as you?"
"I'm sure not everyone shares the same ideas as you. I know that Potthead and Weasel wanna kill me."
"Yeah, well they're assholes."
Draco grabbed the last letter from the remaining owl.
Dear Draco, It doesn't really bother me that you're going back to the Dark Lord. I know that you are only doing what you feel Is right and I'm not going to stop you. I wasn't planning On telling anyone until after graduation, but I too am Joining Voldemort. I will be at the meeting on Sunday. I'm already 18 so I will be apparating there. See you Sunday.
Your friend, Cephius
"What the hell is he thinking?! He told me that he wasn't into the Dark Arts!"
"Maybe something happened at his school or something," Hermione tried to reassure him.
"Maybe, but I still wanna know what's really going on. He always swore he wouldn't choose sides. He swore he'd remain neutral."
"Well, I guess you'll find out tomorrow. Try not to worry about it right now."
"Yeah, I guess. You wanna go to lunch? I'm starving and can use a good meal."
"Sure, but uh don't you wanna change outta your Quidditch robes first?"
"That'd probably be a good idea. I'll be down in a few minutes."
Hermione nodded and watched him retreat up the stairs.
In his room, Draco searched through his trunk until he found baggy black jeans and a Good Charlotte shirt. When he was about to close his trunk, he noticed the ring again. This time when he put it on, he saw something totally different than he had seen previously.
^ It was Draco and Hermione's wedding. Everybody who was there was a Death Eater. When they walked out of the chapel, they were stopped by Voldemort. He said, "You know what you must do."
"Yes My Lord," they answered, then got into the limo and drove away. ^ After that everything returned to normal. This time instead of throwing the ring back in his trunk, he brought it downstairs and showed it to Hermione. He told her the three images he had seen when he put it on.
"It sounds like it changes whenever your priorities change," Hermione said thoughtfully.
"You put it on. See what it shows you."
When Hermione put the ring on, it looked like she went into some kind of trance. Her body started shaking and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. A few seconds later, she snapped out of it.
"What'd you see?" he asked anxiously.
"The same thing you saw a few minutes ago. It appears to show the future as if your priorities stay the same as the moment you put it on. I suggest not using it, you'll probably end up going insane."
"You're probably right, as always." Draco ran upstairs and threw the ring back in his trunk once again.
When he got back down to the common room, he took Hermione's hand and led her down to the Great Hall for lunch. By the time they got there almost everyone was gone, so they both sat at the Slytherin table. A few students who were left from Slytherin and Gryffindor glared at them, but they didn't notice. And if they did they pretended not to.
"I didn't know you listened to muggle music," Hermione said looking down at his shirt.
"Yeah, I do. I like punk rock. Good Charlotte is one of my favorite bands."
"Mine too. I love punk music, which explains why I dress the way I do."
Draco looked down at her clothes and noticed that she was wearing the same pants as him and a Fox Racing shirt.
"That would explain that." He smirked. "So what's your favorite band?"
"Well, it's hard to choose just one favorite. But I like Jimmy Eat World, Good Charlotte, New Found Glory, MXPX, Unwritten Law, Anti-Flag, Blink 182, Boxcar Racer, Green Day, and Metallica. I think you get the point," she stopped although she could've kept going. "There's others, but if I told you every band I liked we'd be here all day."
"Yeah, probably. Come on let's take a walk, it's so boring in here."
"Okay," she agreed.
Hermione and Draco walked around the giant lake a few times. Draco explained what most of the meetings he had been to were like. She was kind of nervous, but he assured her that she had nothing to worry about because Voldemort keeps his promises and he promised not to harm them.
On the way back up to their common room, Hermione was pulled into an empty classroom and since Draco was holding her hand he was pulled with her.
"What d' you want, Potter?" she spat at him.
"I want to talk to you without The Famous Bouncing Ferret here."
"No! He stays and he's not a ferret. Watch your mouth! Last time you and Ron wanted to 'talk' to me I almost killed myself. Draco stays."
"Fine! Why are you acting so weird lately?" he asked.
"I'm not the one who's acting weird! That's you and Ron. Since the beginning of the year, you haven't realized that I fell in love. You are both totally oblivious to the fact that Draco makes me happy! When I did finally get down to the Gryffindor common room, Ron kisses me and you do absolutely nothing to stop it. You guys were obviously planning something, I could tell by the looks on your faces when I walked in. That was some obvious attempt on both your parts to get me to break up with Draco. Well, I got news for you, THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!" Hermione was fuming.
Harry, obviously afraid, stepped back a few steps and asked, "Why were you sitting in the Slytherin stands at the game?"
"Isn't that obvious, Potter?" Draco drawled.
"No it isn't you filthy ferret. Why don't you tell me," Harry commanded.
"We don't hafta take this bullshit. Come on 'Mione, this guy's a psycho."
They started to walk out the door. Harry shouted after them, "That's right! Go with him you filthy Mudblood! You should've been put in Slytherin in the first place you fucking slut!"
Hermione pulled her hand away from Draco's and smacked Harry hard. He winced in pain as tears welled up in his eyes.
"Don't ever call me Mudblood again!" she whispered vehemently at him. "I have the power and the desire to kill you right here and now. DON'T TEMPT ME!"
She stormed out of the room with Draco right behind her. He was staring at her, totally stunned.
"Hermione! I can't believe you just said that!"
"What? Hit him or threaten him?"
"Both. He almost cried when you smacked him."
Hermione smirked at him and he at her.
"I can't wait until tomorrow night," Hermione said once they were safe in their common room.
"Weren't you nervous about that like twenty minutes ago?"
"Well yeah, but that's only because I felt kinda bad for Potthead. Now I don't really care what happens to him. He's a typical asshole. We've been friends for over six years and now he decides that I'm a Mudblood. If he felt that way about me, he should've said so six years ago on the train and then I wouldn't have bothered with him."
"'Mione, like you said, he's an asshole. Don't worry about it. Tomorrow you'll meet new people who will treat you with the respect that you deserve. I mean, you will be the mother of Voldemort's heir."
"How do you know they'll treat me with respect? I am muggle-born you know. What if they treat me like common street trash?"
"They won't. I won't let them."
"Good." ~ The rest of the night and the next day went quickly. At 6:30, Draco grabbed his broom and he and Hermione headed for the Astronomy Tower.
Draco was giving her some last minute tips on the way up. "Remember, show no emotion. Look directly into his eyes when he speaks to you. Don't fidget. When he tortures somebody, don't wince, scream or look away because you'll be his next target. If he ever does torture you, and don't worry that won't happen tonight, try not to make a sound. It does hurt, but if you cry out the punishment will only last longer."
Hermione nodded her head. "Is that all?" she asked sarcastically. "That's not so much to remember."
"No sarcasm either, he doesn't appreciate it. He lacks a sense of humor."
They reached the Astronomy Tower and had ten minutes to spare before Lucius was scheduled to arrive. Since they had nothing to talk about, they decided to make out.
At 6:58, Lucius showed up. He cleared his throat loudly to make his presence known to them. They both stood up and blushed.
"I'm sure you took the liberty of explaining how these meetings run, Draco," Lucius inquired.
"Yes, Father. I went over everything."
"Ms Granger." He nodded at Hermione. "I'm glad that you decided to join us. Believe me, you will not regret this."
Hermione nodded and mounted Draco's broom behind him. Draco felt her wrap her arms around his waist and lean her head on his back.
Lucius took off through the same window he came through and Draco followed after him.
They flew in silence for an hour and a half. When Draco saw his father start to head downward, he followed closely. They landed in a clearing just beyond the Forbidden Forrest, where the meeting was to take place.
Draco looked around and noticed that they were the first people there. Within two minutes, Voldemort appeared with Peter Pettigrew. Draco watched as Voldemort pressed a long finger onto the Dark Mark on Peter's left arm. He saw it turn black and then there were popping noises heard all over. The Death Eaters began to fill in the circle.
Draco and Hermione stood off to the side to wait until they were called upon. Another cloaked figure walked over to them. When he reached them, he pulled off his hood.
"Cephius!" Draco said excitedly.
They hugged each other. "It's good to see you again, Draco."
"Yeah it is. But what the hell are you doing here? I thought you weren't into the Dark Arts."
"I'm defying my parents. They were the ones who were holding me back."
"I see." Draco paused then turned to Hermione. "Cephius, this is my girlfriend, Hermione. Hermione, this is Cephius."
Cephius shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Hermione."
"The pleasure's all mine, Cephius."
Cephius was slightly shorter than Draco and was slightly less built. He had pale skin (But still had more color that Draco), his hair and eyes were both black. All in all, he was pretty hot.
"So what else is new back in the states?" Draco asked him.
"Well, my girlfriend and I are going to transfer to Hogwarts probably before Christmas break."
"Sweet! So who's your girlfriend?"
"Her name's Elana Jenkins. We've been going out for almost a year-"
Before he could finish, Voldemort began to talk. "Today, we will be welcoming two new and one returning Death Eater that realized the mistake that he made. The returning Death Eater is Draco Malfoy. And the two new ones are Cephius Blacktree and Hermione Riddle."