Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all in the Harry Potter universe.
Courage to Find the Strength
Chapter 11
Ron jogged up to Hermione in the hall as she made her way to her next class. Just seeing her lightened his step and brought a smile to his face.
"Hey, 'Mione."
"Oh, hey, Ron. I didn't hear you come up." Ron's unexpected presence brought her out of her growing anxiety concerning Malfoy venturing home with her for the Holidays. The closer finals drew to an end, the greater the panic became, and she was having trouble concentrating. Malfoy, thankfully, had kept his teasing to a minimum, but nonetheless kept pestering her to reveal whatever she had planned for them do. So far, she'd evaded all the prying questions, but the truth was she had no idea how he would react to her humble home (at least in comparison to Malfoy Manor) and the exciting world of dentistry.
""Mione, is there something wrong? You seem kind of out of it lately."
"I guess I'm just concerned we haven't learned more about the Death Eaters, and the school year is already half over." It wasn't all a lie because technically Malfoy was still a potential Death Eater.
"Yeah, and we were off to such a good start in the beginning. Too bad you didn't learn more about Malfoy." It was by pure luck Ron was looking the other way and didn't see the furious reddening of her cheeks.
"So what are your plans for the Holidays?" he continued.
The question sounded awfully suspicious like he was hoping for some specific answer. "I'm heading home."
"Alone?" He did his best to sound innocent, but it failed miserably.
Hermione tensed, praying that the confrontation she was dreading wasn't about to burst forth. "Why do you ask, Ron?"
"I was just wondering if you had any plans, is all. We haven't talked a lot recently and I."
Hermione interrupted. "Ron, we talk all the time!"
"Yeah, I know, but we don't really TALK. Not like you and Harry do, I mean. See, I was hoping we could spend some time together over the Holidays and you know, get reacquainted."
Hermione didn't know what to say. Harry's words echoed back to her. "Ron, I think maybe you," but the hopeful, expectant look on his purely good face stopped her from continuing. She suddenly hated herself for not being able to break his heart.
"Maybe I what?"
"Um, maybe you have a good idea there." Inwardly, she groaned. Where was her Gryffindor courage!
"Really?" His face lit up with the light of ten suns.
"Yeah, like just going out for coffee, right? You weren't talking about anything else, were you?"
Ron didn't catch Hermione's cautious intonation. "Coffee sounds great! Okay, then! I'll drop by your house probably after the 25th because of all the visiting family and all." He was looking to see if she would disapprove. Since she wasn't frowning, he heaved a sigh of relief. This was turning out to be the best day he'd had in a very long time. However, if he'd really been paying attention to her, he would never have mistaken her shell-shocked expression for acquiescence.
As Ron waved goodbye to her from down the hall, Hermione's shoulders slumped and she sank down onto a nearby armchair. His day may have been going great, but hers was fast becoming a nightmare. Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse who should round the corner but Draco in the company of Lucius Malfoy of all people. Hermione sank deeper into the seat, covering her face with her hair in a vain attempt to stay hidden. The two were deep in conversation and neither seemed to notice her. Hermione cursed her luck that she couldn't make out anything being said. Deep disturbed, she took off to find Harry as soon as they were out of sight.
A few hours later Malfoy found her pulling books off a shelf in the library. She was so engrossed in thought she nearly jumped out of her skin when he poked her in the sides. As she turned around, he pinned her against the bookshelf by placing his hands to rest on the books on either side of her.
"Miss me?" he said, swooping in to give her a quick kiss before anyone would notice him there. They'd stolen many such moments over the past few weeks. It was unfortunate the weather prevented them from traveling to the forest glade, and Myrtle was becoming very wise to his tricks of flushing her. Even using the disguising spell was dangerous. It seemed the hall monitors were keeping a better watch than since the Chamber of Secrets incident.
Hermione smiled at him, but he saw that it didn't reach her eyes. "What's wrong, Gryffindor? Potter's constant kissing of ass finally getting to you, too?"
"Shut up, Malfoy." This at least was routine, he thought, but he could sense something really troubling her today.
He, for one, was feeling better about his day each moment that passed in her presence. The shock of seeing his father was finally wearing off. Lucius had just appeared out of nowhere waiting for him in the hallway. They'd only shared a few moments together, but it was more than Malfoy could tolerate.
***
"So, boy, you seem to be taking your isolation quite well."
Draco's eyes narrowed as he shrugged. "It's not so bad really."
"Hmm, at least when you partially share it with a certain member of the Gryffindor house." Lucius knew all about his son's foolish dalliance.
There was no point in pretending he didn't know what his father was talking about. "Leave her alone. I'm warning you."
"Dear boy, I'VE never had any intention of physically harming her. That was suppose to be your doing."
"What do you want, Dad?" Draco asked, impatiently cutting to the chase.
"You know what I want," Lucius hissed, "but I see you need more convincing."
"So you came to torture me more? I hate to tell you this, but you're not going to be able to get any more Slytherins to harass me."
Lucius smiled slightly. "Yes, you certainly did a fine job in that regard. One of the few moments you actually did something right. I guess at least SOME of my lessons haven't gone to waste. I'll tell you what, son, come home to the Manor for the Holidays and we'll renegotiate your entrance into the Dark Lord's service. He's been very anxious for you to rejoin our fold." Lucius neglected to mention the tone of Voldemort's demand for Draco's return and the unspoken "or else" that made him depart for Hogwarts immediately.
Draco considered Lucius' proposal for a moment. "Sorry, Dad, I've got plans."
"You're not serious about following that insipid mudblood whore back to her muggle world, are you?"
Draco had a hard time restraining his anger if only to nod in reply.
"I must say you have exceedingly bad taste, Draco. You really will be the death of your poor mother if she ever found out." The way that was said sounded too sincere for Draco's liking. "Then, enjoy the slums if you can. When you return, we WILL discuss this again. Either you come home with me at that time, or I make your isolation a little more permanent."
Lucius turned on his heel and left Draco pondering that last statement. A moment later Malfoy took off in search of Hermione.
***
"So I've been looking for you all day. Where've you been?" Malfoy asked her.
"I was, um, studying with Harry. Why? What have YOU been up to?"
Malfoy was confused by the suspicious tone in her voice. "Had a little run- in with my father."
Hermione suddenly felt relieved. She'd half expected him to lie about the encounter. "What happened?"
"He just wanted to see if I'd come home for the Holidays."
"That's it?" she incredulously asked.
"Oh, he threatened me a little more," Draco shrugged.
"Yeah, and?"
"And I told him I had plans," he grinned at her.
Hermione smiled in return. "So he just left."
"Well, he made a few more threats after that, then told me to enjoy myself and we'd talk when I got back."
"You didn't tell him where you were going?"
"No." he answered truthfully, but he left off the "didn't need to" part.
"Oh." Well, then, this answered many of the questions Harry had urged her to find out. It sounded harmless enough, and she was more than a little disappointed that Draco made no mention of the Death Eaters. But, would he really talk to her about that just yet? They were getting closer, but maybe not close enough.
"So, when do we leave?" he asked, expectantly.
"Day after tomorrow."
"Great," he smiled. He kissed her again quickly, then headed off down the aisle.
Thirty-six hours came and went in a flash.
"You'll be okay, I promise! Now stop it before you hyperventilate," Harry hugged his friend before climbing into the car with Ron and his siblings. Hermione winked as Jenny managed to squeeze in next to him. Harry grinned in answer, his arm finding its way to rest behind Jenny's shoulders. Ron waved and made the "call you" sign with his thumb by his ear and his pinky finger by his mouth. Hermione weakly smiled in return.
Later, she and Draco slid into the same compartment together in the train. Hermione was once again extremely thankful her friends weren't there to witness the event because already furious whispering was taking place all around them.
"So, you ready?" Draco asked.
"As I'll ever be."
"Are you nervous?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I don't know, maybe because your knees are knocking." He placed his hand on her leg to steady their unconscious thumping. After a moment, he slid it up higher on her thigh and completely under her skirt.
Hermione closed her eyes and leaned her head back before she came back to her senses.
"Draco, what do you think you're doing?"
"I think that's rather obvious." His voice was low and full of heat.
"You better stop it before the conductor walks by."
"I have a better idea." His hand again made progress up her thigh. His other hand crept up under robe to the buttons on her blouse. "We're not at Hogwarts any more; let me help you out of your robe."
"But you're not awkwardly fumbling with my robe," she teased, leaning in to kiss him on the neck. One hand was fully inside her blouse now, caressing the fabric over her left nipple. The other was tracing the outline of her panties on her right hip. As he bent down to kiss her properly, Hermione was dimly aware she should be stopping him, but the inferno he built inside of her scorched out any thoughts of right and wrong. Being with him seemed so natural, and he made her want to strip off, among other things, her virginal airs. Just then, there was a knock on the door and two second- year Hufflepuffs blundered in.
"And STAY THE HELL OUT!" Draco bellowed as he practically threw the two girls down the corridor of the train and slammed the compartment door shut again.
"Draco, it was an accident, I'm sure, " she giggled, "but I warned you we would get caught."
"Accident, my ass! They were spying on us!"
"So, what does it matter anyway? Although I certainly hope they don't go tattling to the conductor. We've born the brunt of the gossip since we both received detention for skipping Professor McGonagal's class months ago. The whole school knows we're practically an item."
He grinned pseudo-evilly at her. "Are we now?"
"We better be if you think you can continue doing what you were doing a moment ago." Her eyes were very mischievous as Draco again approached her with unmistakable intent.
Further down the train, the Hufflepuff girls finished relating the tale to a very interested Pansy Parkinson. After they left, she turned to Crabbe and Goyle and said, "Well, I've heard about enough. How about you guys?"
The two thugs looked like they were going to vomit. "Are they sure? I mean Malfoy and that horrible Gryffindor."
"Yes, you morons, have you two been under a rock for the last semester? Good ol' Draco has finally fallen hard for someone, and our job is to put a stop to it."
"But how, Pansy?" Goyle whined.
"Let's just say Lucius Malfoy has given me an idea," she patted the gold galleons in her pocket.
Courage to Find the Strength
Chapter 11
Ron jogged up to Hermione in the hall as she made her way to her next class. Just seeing her lightened his step and brought a smile to his face.
"Hey, 'Mione."
"Oh, hey, Ron. I didn't hear you come up." Ron's unexpected presence brought her out of her growing anxiety concerning Malfoy venturing home with her for the Holidays. The closer finals drew to an end, the greater the panic became, and she was having trouble concentrating. Malfoy, thankfully, had kept his teasing to a minimum, but nonetheless kept pestering her to reveal whatever she had planned for them do. So far, she'd evaded all the prying questions, but the truth was she had no idea how he would react to her humble home (at least in comparison to Malfoy Manor) and the exciting world of dentistry.
""Mione, is there something wrong? You seem kind of out of it lately."
"I guess I'm just concerned we haven't learned more about the Death Eaters, and the school year is already half over." It wasn't all a lie because technically Malfoy was still a potential Death Eater.
"Yeah, and we were off to such a good start in the beginning. Too bad you didn't learn more about Malfoy." It was by pure luck Ron was looking the other way and didn't see the furious reddening of her cheeks.
"So what are your plans for the Holidays?" he continued.
The question sounded awfully suspicious like he was hoping for some specific answer. "I'm heading home."
"Alone?" He did his best to sound innocent, but it failed miserably.
Hermione tensed, praying that the confrontation she was dreading wasn't about to burst forth. "Why do you ask, Ron?"
"I was just wondering if you had any plans, is all. We haven't talked a lot recently and I."
Hermione interrupted. "Ron, we talk all the time!"
"Yeah, I know, but we don't really TALK. Not like you and Harry do, I mean. See, I was hoping we could spend some time together over the Holidays and you know, get reacquainted."
Hermione didn't know what to say. Harry's words echoed back to her. "Ron, I think maybe you," but the hopeful, expectant look on his purely good face stopped her from continuing. She suddenly hated herself for not being able to break his heart.
"Maybe I what?"
"Um, maybe you have a good idea there." Inwardly, she groaned. Where was her Gryffindor courage!
"Really?" His face lit up with the light of ten suns.
"Yeah, like just going out for coffee, right? You weren't talking about anything else, were you?"
Ron didn't catch Hermione's cautious intonation. "Coffee sounds great! Okay, then! I'll drop by your house probably after the 25th because of all the visiting family and all." He was looking to see if she would disapprove. Since she wasn't frowning, he heaved a sigh of relief. This was turning out to be the best day he'd had in a very long time. However, if he'd really been paying attention to her, he would never have mistaken her shell-shocked expression for acquiescence.
As Ron waved goodbye to her from down the hall, Hermione's shoulders slumped and she sank down onto a nearby armchair. His day may have been going great, but hers was fast becoming a nightmare. Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse who should round the corner but Draco in the company of Lucius Malfoy of all people. Hermione sank deeper into the seat, covering her face with her hair in a vain attempt to stay hidden. The two were deep in conversation and neither seemed to notice her. Hermione cursed her luck that she couldn't make out anything being said. Deep disturbed, she took off to find Harry as soon as they were out of sight.
A few hours later Malfoy found her pulling books off a shelf in the library. She was so engrossed in thought she nearly jumped out of her skin when he poked her in the sides. As she turned around, he pinned her against the bookshelf by placing his hands to rest on the books on either side of her.
"Miss me?" he said, swooping in to give her a quick kiss before anyone would notice him there. They'd stolen many such moments over the past few weeks. It was unfortunate the weather prevented them from traveling to the forest glade, and Myrtle was becoming very wise to his tricks of flushing her. Even using the disguising spell was dangerous. It seemed the hall monitors were keeping a better watch than since the Chamber of Secrets incident.
Hermione smiled at him, but he saw that it didn't reach her eyes. "What's wrong, Gryffindor? Potter's constant kissing of ass finally getting to you, too?"
"Shut up, Malfoy." This at least was routine, he thought, but he could sense something really troubling her today.
He, for one, was feeling better about his day each moment that passed in her presence. The shock of seeing his father was finally wearing off. Lucius had just appeared out of nowhere waiting for him in the hallway. They'd only shared a few moments together, but it was more than Malfoy could tolerate.
***
"So, boy, you seem to be taking your isolation quite well."
Draco's eyes narrowed as he shrugged. "It's not so bad really."
"Hmm, at least when you partially share it with a certain member of the Gryffindor house." Lucius knew all about his son's foolish dalliance.
There was no point in pretending he didn't know what his father was talking about. "Leave her alone. I'm warning you."
"Dear boy, I'VE never had any intention of physically harming her. That was suppose to be your doing."
"What do you want, Dad?" Draco asked, impatiently cutting to the chase.
"You know what I want," Lucius hissed, "but I see you need more convincing."
"So you came to torture me more? I hate to tell you this, but you're not going to be able to get any more Slytherins to harass me."
Lucius smiled slightly. "Yes, you certainly did a fine job in that regard. One of the few moments you actually did something right. I guess at least SOME of my lessons haven't gone to waste. I'll tell you what, son, come home to the Manor for the Holidays and we'll renegotiate your entrance into the Dark Lord's service. He's been very anxious for you to rejoin our fold." Lucius neglected to mention the tone of Voldemort's demand for Draco's return and the unspoken "or else" that made him depart for Hogwarts immediately.
Draco considered Lucius' proposal for a moment. "Sorry, Dad, I've got plans."
"You're not serious about following that insipid mudblood whore back to her muggle world, are you?"
Draco had a hard time restraining his anger if only to nod in reply.
"I must say you have exceedingly bad taste, Draco. You really will be the death of your poor mother if she ever found out." The way that was said sounded too sincere for Draco's liking. "Then, enjoy the slums if you can. When you return, we WILL discuss this again. Either you come home with me at that time, or I make your isolation a little more permanent."
Lucius turned on his heel and left Draco pondering that last statement. A moment later Malfoy took off in search of Hermione.
***
"So I've been looking for you all day. Where've you been?" Malfoy asked her.
"I was, um, studying with Harry. Why? What have YOU been up to?"
Malfoy was confused by the suspicious tone in her voice. "Had a little run- in with my father."
Hermione suddenly felt relieved. She'd half expected him to lie about the encounter. "What happened?"
"He just wanted to see if I'd come home for the Holidays."
"That's it?" she incredulously asked.
"Oh, he threatened me a little more," Draco shrugged.
"Yeah, and?"
"And I told him I had plans," he grinned at her.
Hermione smiled in return. "So he just left."
"Well, he made a few more threats after that, then told me to enjoy myself and we'd talk when I got back."
"You didn't tell him where you were going?"
"No." he answered truthfully, but he left off the "didn't need to" part.
"Oh." Well, then, this answered many of the questions Harry had urged her to find out. It sounded harmless enough, and she was more than a little disappointed that Draco made no mention of the Death Eaters. But, would he really talk to her about that just yet? They were getting closer, but maybe not close enough.
"So, when do we leave?" he asked, expectantly.
"Day after tomorrow."
"Great," he smiled. He kissed her again quickly, then headed off down the aisle.
Thirty-six hours came and went in a flash.
"You'll be okay, I promise! Now stop it before you hyperventilate," Harry hugged his friend before climbing into the car with Ron and his siblings. Hermione winked as Jenny managed to squeeze in next to him. Harry grinned in answer, his arm finding its way to rest behind Jenny's shoulders. Ron waved and made the "call you" sign with his thumb by his ear and his pinky finger by his mouth. Hermione weakly smiled in return.
Later, she and Draco slid into the same compartment together in the train. Hermione was once again extremely thankful her friends weren't there to witness the event because already furious whispering was taking place all around them.
"So, you ready?" Draco asked.
"As I'll ever be."
"Are you nervous?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I don't know, maybe because your knees are knocking." He placed his hand on her leg to steady their unconscious thumping. After a moment, he slid it up higher on her thigh and completely under her skirt.
Hermione closed her eyes and leaned her head back before she came back to her senses.
"Draco, what do you think you're doing?"
"I think that's rather obvious." His voice was low and full of heat.
"You better stop it before the conductor walks by."
"I have a better idea." His hand again made progress up her thigh. His other hand crept up under robe to the buttons on her blouse. "We're not at Hogwarts any more; let me help you out of your robe."
"But you're not awkwardly fumbling with my robe," she teased, leaning in to kiss him on the neck. One hand was fully inside her blouse now, caressing the fabric over her left nipple. The other was tracing the outline of her panties on her right hip. As he bent down to kiss her properly, Hermione was dimly aware she should be stopping him, but the inferno he built inside of her scorched out any thoughts of right and wrong. Being with him seemed so natural, and he made her want to strip off, among other things, her virginal airs. Just then, there was a knock on the door and two second- year Hufflepuffs blundered in.
"And STAY THE HELL OUT!" Draco bellowed as he practically threw the two girls down the corridor of the train and slammed the compartment door shut again.
"Draco, it was an accident, I'm sure, " she giggled, "but I warned you we would get caught."
"Accident, my ass! They were spying on us!"
"So, what does it matter anyway? Although I certainly hope they don't go tattling to the conductor. We've born the brunt of the gossip since we both received detention for skipping Professor McGonagal's class months ago. The whole school knows we're practically an item."
He grinned pseudo-evilly at her. "Are we now?"
"We better be if you think you can continue doing what you were doing a moment ago." Her eyes were very mischievous as Draco again approached her with unmistakable intent.
Further down the train, the Hufflepuff girls finished relating the tale to a very interested Pansy Parkinson. After they left, she turned to Crabbe and Goyle and said, "Well, I've heard about enough. How about you guys?"
The two thugs looked like they were going to vomit. "Are they sure? I mean Malfoy and that horrible Gryffindor."
"Yes, you morons, have you two been under a rock for the last semester? Good ol' Draco has finally fallen hard for someone, and our job is to put a stop to it."
"But how, Pansy?" Goyle whined.
"Let's just say Lucius Malfoy has given me an idea," she patted the gold galleons in her pocket.
