Disclaimer: I in no way own these characters; the Goddess J.K. Rowling invented them. I'm just playing with them while I await the Goddess' next tome. Also disclaiming: Various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: This story has dark moments and some adult situations, which warranted the PG-13 rating. Please, please read and review! I'll be forever grateful!
A/N 2: Now that this fic is complete, I've dreamed up a sequel. If you decide you like it, stay tuned!
A/N 3: Yeah, there's some fluff. I'm a Gryffindor. What can I say?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Well, well. What have we here, hmmm?"
"Draco." She wasn't sure why she was so nervous, seeing him here on late-night rounds like every other night the past school year, but something she could see in his eye in the dimness made her slightly queasy. "Are you quite finished with your rounds? I'll be seeing you, then…"
"I don't think so. I think you'll be staying right here, Granger." He leered menacingly at her, and seemed to be more than a little drunk. End-of-exams party in the Slytherin Common Room, no doubt; there was likely one going on in Gryffindor Tower as well.
"I'm tired, it's late Draco. I will see you at the Leaving Feast." The Head Girl turned to walk away from the Head Boy for the last time, but then his hands were on her waist, pulling her back towards him.
"This isn't funny, Malfoy. Good night."
"No. Not good night." He grabbed her hair and dragged her into the deserted classroom. "I've bloody well earned this, having to endure you and your idiot friends all year, and I will have you right now, Mudblood. You know you want it."
Hermione Granger screamed before Draco Malfoy drew his wand and uttered in a cold voice, "Silencio". Mrs. Norris heard the muffled cry, but her feline mind registered that the Head Boy had been in the area and could handle whatever had happened. She had a date with a juicy rat, anyway.
*~*
Early in the morning of the last day of school, the Fat Lady registered surprise as a very sullen, rather red-eyed Gryffindor woke her up and mumbled the password (Ice Fairies). Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, the Fat Lady opened the portrait hole without a word. Once Miss Granger was inside, the portrait's occupant immediately summoned Sir Nicholas, who went straight to Minerva McGonagall, Hermione's head of house. By the time Professor McGonagall had made her way up to the dormitories, Hermione was gone. The Fat Lady had watched her leave, powerless to stop her with entreaties to wait until McGonagall could arrive.
*~*
"Harry Potter! Wake up this instant," Professor McGonagall hissed in the seventeen-year-old erstwhile hero's ear.
"Professor," he mumbled almost incoherently, "What time…"
"I need your bloody map. Hermione is missing."
Harry was immediately awake and fumbling in his trunk. He retrieved the map, and in the process awakened two of his dorm-mates, Ron Weasley and Dean Thomas. "What's going on?" Ron asked sleepily.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Harry said in way of reply. The Marauder's Map sprung to life, showing the nocturnal movements of all in the immediate Hogwarts area. "There she is!" The dot labeled Hermione Granger was rapidly retreating towards the Forbidden Forest.
"Get on your broom, Harry. I am afraid something dreadful may have happened to her tonight, from the reports I have received." Minerva opened the normally magically locked and bolted large windows, and Harry squeezed out into the night on his Firebolt, map clutched in hand. He could tell she was headed towards the Shrieking Shack through their secret passageway, so he headed in that direction. When he arrived, he went to the entrance to await her. But the door was already open. Too damn late, he realized, and of course the map would not be of use here. She was gone into the night, and there was little he could do other than execute a futile search pattern.
He knew she was an unregistered Animagus – she became a black cat when she transformed, and only a few other people knew of her secret -- and in any case, she had passed her Apparition licensing exam without problems, so the search was pointless. After a few flybys of the surrounding area, Harry flew back to Hogwarts, feeling as bleak as he had felt since Cedric died and Voldemort returned in their fourth year. What had driven her to run away without even a word to her best friends?
As dawn broke, the entirety of the graduating seventh year Hogwarts class, along with Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, were huddled in Dumbledore's office discussing the situation. None of the Gryffindors would stand to be left behind when their friend was missing, so McGonagall marched them all down to the office. Snape had been called in because he was the Head of House for the Head Boy, and they needed him to be up to speed before they called in Draco Malfoy to ask him about rounds and when he might have last seen Hermione. The two hadn't exactly been friends over the year that they had been Head Boy and Girl, but they had been fairly professional and mature with each other as everyone had hoped. Dumbledore had really wanted to name a Slytherin and a Gryffindor to the posts, in the ongoing effort to foster good relations and help keep as many Slytherins from going to the Dark Lord as possible. The professors had their reasons for deciding on Malfoy; that left Granger as the obvious choice from Gryffindor. It had really worked out very well, and had left Harry, who everyone had assumed would be Head Boy, to work quietly with his professors on the war against Voldemort.
"I never even heard her come in," Parvati Patil was saying as Snape entered the room.
"May I ask why I've been called here at this early hour to what certainly appears to be a Gryffindor house meeting?" Snape was rather irked at the curt summons he had received. It had been a late night, grading end-of-term exams for idiotic second and third years, and he was really not a morning person anyway. Come to think of it, there probably wasn't a time of day that suited him well enough.
Before anyone could answer, he continued in his usual ill-tempered fashion. "I see Miss Granger isn't here. Don't tell me. You're planning some ridiculous 'Best Student To Ever Go To Hogwarts' award and you want me to contribute something to it. Well I won't ever, EVER do you hear me, help you out with this one." As he turned to leave the room, Albus stilled him with a well-chosen phrase.
"Miss Granger has disappeared, and we'd like your help – and the help of our Head Boy – in locating her."
