Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and all else aforementioned in the other tedious disclaimers. I am so sorry that I didn't get this chapter up Saturday or Sunday but I just so happened to have had a problem with my internet provider and after
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How the Snake Stings
Draco's hand shot up to his cheek, which had reddened greatly, and his eyes swept over Hermione, as if seeing her truly for the first time. He then looked down at his own hand, which he had pulled away from his face now.
Hermione waited for his reaction.
Normally, Draco would take his wand and do something annoying to the other party, like make their hair stand on end for the day, or make them freeze and fall over, hard as stone. This time, though, Draco was only equipped with his hands, and no matter what, he wouldn't just attack a girl. Clenching his fists, Draco smirked broadly.
This was possibly the biggest blow to Hermione, because she despised someone who'd brush off another person with only a smirk, not even words. She straightened up and then said, calmly but coldly, so that her voice was almost mechanical: " You think you're so big in this school, but guess what, you're not. I bet Harry would be able to outdo you in everything. That's what you're afraid of, isn't it?"
Two cold eyes pierced into Hermione's, almost in warning of the fire she was sparking behind them.
" That's it!" Hermione stood up, slapping her hands down on the table. She pointed at him and then shouted: " You can't stand the fact Harry might be better then you."
" Shut up." He said, weakly. He tried to keep his hands at his side. It was so very Muggle-like to fight with one's fists, it was almost a shame that this was all he had left. He knew that Granger wouldn't get him his wand back now, not after how she got so angry. Draco realized he'd be the one crawling into the room next door, instead of Hermione.
" No, I won't shut up." Hermione's face was flushed. " You know what? I thought that maybe you'd be all right after a while, that maybe once you actually got your brain to work outside of the little box your father made for you, then you'd be a pretty okay person, but I was wrong." She felt tears in her eyes now, which she didn't understand. This was only Draco, and it was too late to take his hand and pull him out of the Dark Side, now that he was already obviously engulfed in it. " I was wrong." She repeated, as a tear slid down her cheek.
Draco leaned back in his chair, looking down at the plate in front of him, trying not to say anything. He recalled how Lucius had always taught him that when a lowly idiot was bothering you, the cleverest way to get rid of them is to not make eye contact, like a King would never look in a servant's eye. His father's words seemed to be most of his thoughts lately, which suddenly surfaced inside of Draco now that Hermione shouted at him about the box his father made. The truth stung hard, and he failed to believe it.
" My father's brilliant. He would never push me into anything that would do less then prosper!" Draco replied, hotly. " I don't know what 'box' you're talking about." Draco's mouth spoke words he wasn't exactly thinking. He was thinking of his father's fierce face as Lucius told him, repeatedly: " Never stoop as low as to be friends with Mudbloods. They forsake all that is true in the wizarding world." Then, in a hollow voice, Lucius would add: "There is no good or evil… it's only about who wins or loses, about power."
Draco was little then, not understanding much. The shallow voice that accompanied those words was forever seared into his mind.
" You know what you are? Evil, and so is your father. Your family is corrupt by You-Know-Who, and you don't even see how you're doing little more then hurting yourselves!" Hermione felt the words slip from her mouth before she could reflect on who she was speaking to. Draco's eyes narrowed.
There was no good or evil.
" There is no evil." Draco said, finally, his voice hollow just as his father's was. " There's only power."
"No…" Hermione shook her head, her hand shooting up to her mouth in revulsion. "Brainwashed, that's what it is." She sunk into her chair, and then looked at Draco, still sitting there, beginning to eat again, calmer then when he began.
They didn't speak again. While Draco finished his meal, Hermione couldn't bring another bite to her mouth.
~*~
Hermione had gone with Professor McGonagall to the library to take out a book so that she could amuse herself for a few days in the room she shared with Draco. Professor McGonagall was skeptical about it, wondering if Hermione's distraction in the book and Draco's avid attention to his homework would eventually occupy the students so much they'd forget one another, going through the days without so much as a smile or glance to one another.
Hermione assured her that she and Draco were beginning to get along better, just to make the Professor a bit more happy with her ideas of the room, but truthfully, Hermione felt dreadfully frightened and alone now.
Now she sat with the book in her lap, opened to about thirty pages into the book, and she read to herself slowly. She couldn't quite understand what she was reading, though, and after repeating the same dull sentence in her mind a very many dull times, Hermione realized that she wasn't going to get any reading done at all. This was almost the first time that she couldn't concentrate at all on a book.
Her eyes wandered over to Draco again.
He was writing, and his facial expression was absolutely blank. This was the world of Draco Malfoy – he was either sulking, sneering, or looking otherwise completely bored (a.k.a. the blank expression).
Maybe it was the way he seemed to care less about how the things he said or did hurt Hermione, or the fact that he seemed untroubled at all with the conversation Hermione had with him earlier that day, but something about that suddenly-cool attitude of his infuriated her.
She tried to think hard about the book she held in her hands, but her mind wandered and she was soon bored. However tense the air between her and Draco was, she knew that there was still the issue of finding a way into the room next door. Draco was propelled into the way of her discovery when his wand ended up in the mysterious room. She had little chance of backing out of working with him now, but she didn't wish to speak to him yet.
Suddenly, Draco shifted. He stood and then paced across the room. Hermione allowed her eyes to follow him, in fear that he might try something funny. Draco stopped in front of the hologram of the room next door and then slowly put his hand in. The second it was up to his wrist, a sudden POP shook the air and his hand flew back and smacked him in the chest.
" Stupid thing." A look of utter contempt crossed Draco's face.
Hermione couldn't help but prop herself up on her elbows and examine the scene with a new-found curiosity.
Draco then thrust his hand in full-force, and with his entire limb in all the way to the shoulder, his feet planted to the ground, he began to grope around through the other room. The force of the hologram was pushing him back and his feet slid slowly on the floor until he was forced to pause, walk up closer to the window, and then try again.
He seemed to find something with his hand for suddenly he stopped straining against the force of the hologram. His arm shot back out and he teetered on the backs of his heels before he raised his hand up triumphantly. A small scrap of something was wedged in between his fingers.
Hermione wished to know what the scrap was, but she could not see that far, and if she asked Draco to see it, he'd laugh in her face. Besides, she had no intention to speak to him.
Draco flipped whatever it was around in between his fingers before pushing it into his pocket.
'That idiot! He'll crumple it! Has he no respect for items like that?' Hermione's mind buzzed accusingly. Draco obviously didn't have any respect for objects such as this, for a few moments later his hand was groping through the insides of the room again. This time, his hand retreated with nothing in it, but a very startled look was prominent on his face.
He looked over at Hermione, almost ready to say what he felt inside the room, but he suddenly pressed his lips together tightly and then grinned broadly instead. The grin wasn't a friendly one, it was more of a conquering one, one that could either mark the face of the victor of a large sports match or that of one that triumphed over another person in some sort of other event.
Whatever the case was, Draco's triumphant smile didn't erase for the rest of the evening. Late into the afternoon, when Professor McGonagall came to offer dinner (which both students refused), Hermione found herself more and more curious of what Draco had discovered. She made plans to wait until nightfall, and then she decided she'd have to reach into Draco's pants pocket and pull the item out.
~*~
Somewhere outside, a few noisy insects chirped. Draco's breath was soft and steady in his sleep, a bored expression on his face even in his dreams. They had changed into their pajamas, of course, when Professor McGonagall came to get them out of the room for the late night bathroom-visit. Hermione chose to wear her baggiest, wooliest night gown, because the room was so very cold that it gave little to no hope of warmth other then that of the clothing they would choose to wear.
Hermione waited until she was absolutely sure Draco was asleep, and then she slid from her cot and approached Draco's cot.
Draco's head was turned away from her, so she felt even more relieved. She waved her hand in front of his face to see if he'd somehow burst out of his dreams (or nightmares) and then scream his head off until he realized the shape waving before his eyes was only a girl's hand.
When Draco didn't wake, Hermione kneeled down on the floor and found Draco's pants.
She felt rather dirty, looking through his clothing, but it was a necessity to keep herself informed on what was going on. She reached into the pocket and felt something cold and hard. Hermione pulled it out. It was a little round metal washer that must have fallen from some sort of mechanical item in the boy's bathroom. Hermione figured that if anything, Draco would use it to fish items from the other room by tying the washer, a magnet, and a string together and to a stick. The fishing-reel routine would obviously not work, though, for the string would be immediately pushed out of the hologram in the blink of an eye.
She dug into the other pocket and found a very stiff, over-starched handkerchief that happened to be spotless. The reason for it was beyond her, for Draco obviously maintained it in prime condition. She put it back into the depths of the pocket and then found a thin sliver of something.
Hermione pulled it out and saw it was a blade of grass.
A blade just like the thousands of shimmering blades of grass in the field of her dream. It was probably just an odd coincidence!
Hermione felt her heartbeat flutter as she pushed the blade back in. It was probably not what she thought it was, even. It might have been a discolored scrap of wallpaper that Draco scraped off. Or it wasn't the object that Draco found. It was likely that a boy would have grass in his pockets, or a rock, or some other article of nature. Yet, Draco was rather a clean-liking boy, and it was odd to see grass in his pocket.
It didn't matter, it wasn't a major breakthrough. It was too vague of a discovery.
Hermione pushed the blade of grass back into Draco's pocket and then set back on her heels with a sigh. " Hmm." She pondered, out loud.
There was little else she could attempt to do except try to get into the room again. With a frown, Hermione stood and then approached the window. She put her hands on the window sill and then peered at the hologram. It was chillingly vivid and believable.
No.
She decided that it would be best to try and go in there when Draco was awake.
If something happened, he'd be there to tell Professor McGonagall what happened. Or would he say the truth? Would Professor McGonagall believe him?
~*~
Hermione felt tired. Perhaps it was the fact she didn't eat or sleep well for a long time now. Her eyes fell open very early in the morning and now she simply attempted to sleep again but couldn't.
Suddenly, a rattle came to the door.
Draco stirred in his sleep, and Hermione felt frightened all of a sudden. The rattling of the doorknob on the door did not cease, in fact, it got louder and more intense. Hermione pressed her eyes closed.
" Hermione, it's me."
" Harry!" Hermione said, and she ran to the door. " I thought you forgot about me."
He laughed. " Why would I do something stupid like that?"
" I don't know." Hermione felt tears in her eyes and a warm lump in her throat. " Oh, it's so horrible, Harry. Draco and I are NOT getting along. I can't stand him sometimes."
" This whole punishment thing was a bad idea." Harry said. " Are you eating okay?"
" I didn't eat anything except for the chocolate you gave me and some soup and toast."
" That's awful." Harry pressed something through the space in between the door and floor again. " I got you some more food."
" Thank you." She couldn't help it, she burst out: " Harry, I miss you so much."
" Just me?" He joked.
" No, I miss all of you, but…" She paused. " I miss you a lot more then the others."
Draco turned his head to the doorway.
Harry sighed. " Hermione, I can't even think anymore without you around." Suddenly, the sound of him standing up outside the door filled the air. "Hold on, I'll try and get through the door again with that spell… I really hope it works…"
Hermione shook her head. " Harry, you'll get hurt. I'm sure that this room is sealed from that spell, just as it is sealed from Retrieving Spells, Alohamora, Wingardium Leviosa, and many others."
" We'll see."
The sound of his wand humming was evident, a low and vibrating trill, like a piece of paper flapping over a comb as someone blows on it. Then, all of a sudden, Harry's head peeked through the door."
" It works!" Hermione cried out.
Draco sat up.
Harry went through the door so that his head and arms appeared, and his stomach, and the tips of his feet, but he was still halfway through. Suddenly, the invisibility cloak on him slipped down so that it was a mass of fabric at his ankles, as he held his arms out to Hermione. She hugged him tightly, pressing her face into his chest. " Harry, I can't believe it…"
Draco slowly opened his eyes, trying to take in what was going on.
Hermione laughed and said: " Come on in, all the way." She stepped back from the door.
" I shouldn't, I might not be able to get out again, since the room might be sealed from the inside." Harry said, and he was right. That was a possibility.
" Oh." Hermione tried not to look too disappointed. "Well, that's alright, then."
Draco watched as Harry suddenly brought Hermione's face up, his hand under her chin. He smiled at her and said: "Hermione, I have to tell you something."
" What is it?"
" I like you, a lot."
" I like you too." Hermione felt a load of relief slip out of her stomach. She felt his lips press onto hers very slowly, because Harry was afraid and plus he had never done something like this.
Before Hermione could get used to the feeling, though, she felt something whip by, and all of a sudden, Harry was being propelled backwards out of the room. Soon, only Harry's head remained halfway through the door.
" Come back later, you idiot, can't a guy sleep?" Draco said, icily, and with that, he pushed Harry's head all the way back through the doorway.
~*~
A/N: Well that was a VERY long chapter compared to the others, I felt a lot of guilt from Gary Skinner on me, after all… sorry that this came up so late! My internet server was down!
