The Seventh Moon
Author: IcyFire
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sooner or later, light will shine upon even the darkest secrets, and when Hermione stumbles upon a terrible truth that was meant to be forever concealed, she is thrown into utter confusion and suddenly feels completely lost in the world around her. And when Draco Malfoy, who does not yet realize his own important part in fate, steps in and tempts her with an offer she can't refuse, Hermione is faced with the decision that will change her life and ultimately decide the fate of the wizarding world. Thousands of years ago, when the gods still roamed the earth and the legendary oracles wove intricate prophecies, fate had paved a path, and destiny had chosen her to walk it. Through it all, a powerful, burning love will arise. Can love really conquer all? Or will she succumb to her fate? This is the story of her plight to change destiny and follow the stirrings of her own heart.
A/N: This is the fourth chapter and in this one, some of the plot is starting to come out even thought it may seem really weird.
Thanks to my reviewers: Mistress Moony, tainted black, 'div, Felicity, Aniron Sauron Greenleaf-Took, Crystalline Lily, ..., mary, shadowcat, julie
Disclaimer: As much as I would like to believe that all of this is mine, unfortunately, it's not except the plot.
She awoke that morning hoping desperately that what she had seen the night before was only a dream. Just a dream, and nothing more.
She threw off the covers and swung her legs off of the bed, her feet landing softly on the rich carpet. Taking a deep breath, she eased herself off of the bed and slowly made her way to the bathroom with her fingers crossed.
Stepping lightly onto the cold marble floor, she stopped when she reached the mirror and then turned so that her front faced it, with her head ducked so that she wouldn't see the reflection just yet. Taking a few deep breaths to calm and reassure herself, she finally convinced herself that she was ready. With determination, she lifted her head and stared deep into the mirror.
Her heart sunk - every comforting thought that had come through her mind was gone now, just like that. All of her hope deserted her as she stared at the reflection in the mirror.
Golden eyes.
Two gleaming golden eyes staring back at her where her chocolate brown ones should have been. She didn't want to admit it, but they scared her. They scared her out of her wits.
Hermione leaned forward closer to the large mirror and examined her features closer. Her eyes weren't brown. They weren't brown anymore. She had to force her mind to accept this. They were a beautiful shade of gold now and it gave her a sense of mystery.
For the whole night, she had been trying to convince herself that what she saw the night before was just a pigment of her imagination. That she was too tired to see correctly. But now she knew that what she saw was the truth.
No one could have done this to her. No one had the ability to change a person's eye color. Eye color was the hardest feature to alter in the wizarding world and it required much skill. So she quickly ruled out the possibly that Malfoy or one of his fellow Slytherins could have done it.
In the wizarding world, a person's eye color was almost like their identification. Every person had a different shade although it may look just like someone else's. So Hermione, at this moment, felt like she had lost her identity. Who was she?
She was Hermione Granger - the daughter of two of the greatest dentists in all of England. The best friend of Ron Weasley and the ever so famous Harry Potter. The smartest witch in Hogwarts for a century.
But all of a sudden, nothing made sense anymore. It was as if she had been thrown into space - everything was dark and hauntingly complicated.
Why were her eyes golden? She wanted to know, but yet she didn't. She wanted to find out, but a part of her was afraid to. Afraid to let everything out - everything that was hidden deep within the confines of her soul. Afraid of something she didn't know that was already there. Afraid to ask the question. Because somewhere in her soul, she already knew the answer.
Hermione entered the Great Hall cautiously, holding a book to her face, pretending she was reading it. Under normal circumstances, she would have been reading it, but in such conditions that she was in now, she couldn't. The book was actually there for another, completely different reason. She was using it to shield her face - so that nobody would be able to see the change in her eyes.
What would Ron and Harry think? They'd probably make fun of her and then the whole school would know and then...
She didn't even want to think about it. All she wanted to do at the moment was to sneak unnoticed into the Great Hall, grab a banana or something sort of fruit, and leave before anyone could notice she was there.
She stepped gingerly toward the Gryffindor table and she almost had a grip on the grapefruit before she felt a hand settle on her shoulder.
"'Morning, Hermione!" She realized with a sickening feeling in her stomach that this was no other than her friend Harry Potter.
Readjusting the book so that it completely covered her whole face she said, "Hi, Harry!"
"Come, sit down with us," came the voice of Ron Weasley, whom she couldn't see right now because the book was blocking her vision.
With her book still over her face, Harry led her to where he and Ron were sitting. Hermione couldn't do anything but to take a seat.
"Honesty, can you go one day without reading a book?" asked Ron, chewing on something he was eating.
"It-it's really a very interesting book," Hermione answered, her voice a bit too high-pitched and shaky.
"Here, I'll get rid of it for you." Harry's hand folded around the edges of the book and attempted to remove it from Hermione's tight grip.
"No!" she said with fright in her voice, but then tried to cover it up. "It's a wonderful book. I just can't stop reading it."
"Hermione," said Harry, eyeing her, "you're holding it up-side down."
She jumped about a foot in the air. "Well, um..."
"Please, don't tell me you've invented a new challenge for yourself - to read a book up-side down," Ron said sarcastically between bites of toast.
"Is there something on your face that you don't want us to see?"
"No!" she said instinctively, a bit too loud, and then, "I mean, well, no."
"Hermione, have you got a pimple? Don't make such a fuss out of it, I've got a bunch of pimples! I'm sure you look fine," Ron reassured her.
"No, no, and no!"
Finally Harry grabbed the book with both of his hands - seven years of Quidditch did wonders to his strength - and was able to tear it from her grasp. Before she could close her eyes, they had both taken a very long and good look at her face.
"If you make fun of me, I will kill you!" she hissed, crossing her arms.
Harry shook his head with confusion. "What's there to make fun of?"
"Oh shut up! You know what I'm talking about."
"Uh, no we don't," Ron said, taking Harry's side, much to Hermione's disapproval.
"Look at me!" Hermione opened her eyes wide and put her face about five inches from her friends' face. "Don't you see it?"
They were silent, staring at her as if she belonged in a mental institution. "See what?"
Heaving a great sigh, Hermione decided to change her method of approach. "Do you see anything different with my eyes?"
The two boys stared at her eyes. "No."
Silence.
"Nothing?"
They shook their heads.
"Parvati," she said and patted the shoulder of her friend who was deep in conversation with Seamus. "Do you have a mirror?"
Parvati, who was still listening to Seamus as he spoke, reached into the pocket of her robes and retrieved a small compact mirror without asking any questions.
"Thanks," said Hermione as she took the mirror. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and sure enough, her eyes were still a bright golden color.
"Are you sure you don't see anything?"
The boys, who were rather tongue-tied and didn't know what to say, nodded. It was then that Hermione realized that maybe they couldn't see. Maybe she was the only one who could see it - see the change in her eyes. There was no point bothering them anymore - her secret was safe. After all, if no one could see the change, then what was there to worry about?
"Alright," Hermione said, flashing a smile at them. "Forget everything I said. Let's have breakfast - I'm starved."
"Nothing!" Hermione announced loudly that evening, slamming a heavy book down onto the table. She, Harry, and Ron were sitting at a round table on the far left of the library. Piles of books were strewn all over the tabletop - some opened, some closed.
"No luck?"
Hermione shook her head with noticeable irritation. "There's nothing about her! Her name hasn't even been mentioned in any of these books."
"Too bad for you," said Ron as he glanced down at one of his books and scribbled down some notes. "There's loads of information about Lily."
"And my dad," Harry added, patting the mountain of books that sat near him.
"Why do I always have to be the unfortunate one? Three hours in the library and still all I know is her name!" Hermione frowned and crossed her arms stubbornly.
"I heard Dean was going to ask Dumbledore if he could take a day off school to interview his person - maybe you could do the same," Ron suggested.
"Maybe," said Hermione, "but I don't know anything about her at the moment. How am I supposed to track her down?"
"Here," Harry said as he handed her a large, worn book. "Take this. You'll find her in here for sure."
Hermione set the book down on the table, as it was too heavy for her to be able to support in her arms, and flipped it open. "Book of Hogwarts Alumnus? Why didn't I think of this? Thanks, Harry."
The three continued their research as Hermione began to silently flip through the pages of the book. She noticed that there were about three pages dedicated to each student, filled with all their information and such. The Head Boy and Girl, however, each had ten pages. After about fifteen minutes of quick flipping - she closed the book again and sighed.
"She's not in here."
"Of course she is, Hermione. She has to be," Harry said, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes.
"She's not! I've looked through all of the Gryffindor House almunus! She's not there!"
Ron looked up from his notes. "Maybe she wasn't a Gryffindor. Try one of the other houses."
Hermione grumbled and reached for the large velvet book again. This time, she tried the Ravenclaw House, and, still finding nothing, she checked the Hufflepuff House. When nothing turned up in both those houses, she knew that the answer could only be found in one other house. Slytherin.
Groaning, she flipped to the right year in the book and turned to the Slytherin section. It was arranged in alphabetical order and she gingerly flipped the pages until she saw the name. Aurora Belle Riviera.
Hermione was able to read about two pages of the information printed in the book before Harry interrupted.
"I see you've found her."
"Yes," Hermione said, not lifting her eyes from the page.
"So, who exactly was she?"
"She was a Slytherin." She looked up and saw Harry's shock and looked over to see Ron with the exact same expression. "Yeah."
"She was pretty smart too, I'm guessing, from the fact that she was a prefect for three years," she added.
"Apparently not as smart as Lily," Ron said with arrogance. "She was the Head Girl."
Hermione ignored him - she wouldn't talk to him if he was going to act superior to her. "Poor girl. It says that her parents died when she was very young, leaving her a large fortune. I suppose they were wealthy."
"With a name like that, how could you not be?"
"Oh shut up, Ron." He was beginning to irritate her. "Actually I was thinking that Dean's idea is great. Maybe I'll do something like that. She sounds like an interesting person to meet. I hope she's still alive."
At the look on Harry face, Hermione wished she could take that last bit she said back. "Sorry, Harry. I'm sure they're in a better place."
"It's all right," Harry replied, shrugging it off.
Ron leaned over her shoulder to see the book. "Haven't they got any pictures of her?"
"I suppose," Hermione said. "They're probably in the later pages."
She flipped a page, and when she realized that it was all text again, she flipped another. When her eyes landed on the photograph on the next page, she couldn't help but stare at it.
"Wow! Will you look at her!" came Ron's shocked voice.
The photograph looked like it was taken near the spiral staircase near the Great Hall. The girl standing in it had gorgeous dark tresses that spiraled down her back and the most alluring blue eyes Hermione had ever seen in her life. Her lips were full and a luscious red color. However, her lips were not curled in a smile or anything of the sort. She was just looking forward peacefully - not toward the camera - but toward some kind of infinity or dream. She didn't need to smile anyway - her dancing eyes smiled for her.
One hand was lying gently on the rail of the staircase, showing off her perfectly manicured nails. Her cheekbones, her nose, her eyebrows, her perfectly sculpted face, and her graceful poise reminded Hermione of one of those beautiful Greek goddesses that she had only seen in drawings.
But her beauty was not the only thing that captivated Hermione. The girl, Aurora, held herself with an air of authority. And there was something about her that Hermione just couldn't name that she admired greatly. Something surrounded her - something that Hermione couldn't find the words to describe. Something that made her stand out above everything and everyone else, something so powerful that Hermione couldn't name.
"She's got such a powerful aura around her," Harry said, letting his eyes sink into the photograph.
"Like a magnetic force of some kind," Ron added. "Wow."
Hermione finally snapped out of it and back into reality and vowed to not ever look at the picture again. "Oh you two, grow up! So what if she's beautiful?"
The boys were too busy staring the photograph to pay any attention to Hermione and it wasn't until she slammed the book closed that they fell out of their daze.
"Done staring?"
They looked completely embarrassed - Ron's face was almost the same shade as his hair, and Hermione had never seen Harry ever blush so red.
"So what exactly was wrong with you this morning?" Ron asked, hoping to change the subject.
Damn. He just had to remind her. This was going into something that she didn't want to walk about. "Nothing."
"What do you mean by 'nothing'? You were acting all hyped up about it."
"Oh, it was just really silly," Hermione said, dismissing it with a wave of her hand. "It's not worth talking about."
Hermione didn't want to tell them - at least not until she had figured it out for herself. And how would she figure it out anyway? How did a person's eye color just change in the period of one day? These were questions she needed to be answered - questions that had been nagging her for the whole day. She wanted to find out, she needed to find out. And it was at that moment that a brilliant idea popped into her mind.
"Harry," she said, "could I borrow your invisibility cloak?"
"What for?" he asked, curious.
She pouted. "Please? It's really important to me. Please?"
"I'll let you use it if you tell me what you're using it for," he said. "After all, Dumbledore did say for me to use it well." He sent her a wry smile.
"I really need it," she said, her patience already beginning to vanish. "I'll tell you after I use it. I promise. Please?"
"No," he said, teasing her, just to get a reaction out of Hermione.
"Honesty, you two are like brother and sister," Ron said, after hearing enough of their childish bickering.
"Really?" Harry laughed warm-heartedly. "I'm afraid she doesn't look a thing like me."
"And thank God for that!" Hermione rolled her eyes with a grin on her face.
"Is that an insult?"
"You bet it is." Hermione's eyes twinkled merrily.
"Well, you're going to have to do better than that!" Harry said as he tackled her and she burst into a fit of giggles. Before he could do anything about it, she had grabbed his glasses off his face.
"Give it back, 'ermione," he said, still laughing.
She held the glasses out in front of her. "Only if you let me borrow your invisibility cloak!"
In the end, after about another half an hour of bickering, Harry finally agreed - tired of their quarrel.
"Alright, fine, come up with me to my room and I'll fetch it for you," he said, grabbing a few books that were on the table.
Hermione nodded and the three of them filed out of the library. It was after they were outside the doors that she realized that she had left a book on the table and she had to run in quickly to retrieve it.
She slid it off the table and into her hand and turned to leave when she caught two eyes staring at her from behind the bookshelves. They were a silver-gray color and she immediately knew whom they belonged to.
Hermione didn't like the feeling it gave her - she felt constantly watched and it made a chill go down her back. Why the hell did he keep staring at her? It only added to her list of troubles. God, she wished that she could just rid herself of every burden that she had. She was way too stressed.
Ignoring his stare, she turned away and hurried out of the library as quickly as her legs could carry her to join up with Harry and Ron. She couldn't just go up to him and ask what his problem was. She had more important things to do tonight. Much more important.
Hermione didn't realize how dark the halls of Hogwarts could be at night until now. It was cold, too. Very cold. If she had realized how chilly it would be, she would have worn something other than her pajamas - but now it was too late to turn back. With the invisibility cloak draped over her and a lamp in her hand, she tiptoed her way to the Hogwarts library.
The nice, soft, flannel pajamas she had didn't do a thing to keep her body warm. Her feet were bare, which only added to the cold. She wished that she could turn back, but too many reasons kept her from it.
Slowly, she opened the door of the library, hoping that it wouldn't creak. Then she peeked inside just to make sure there was no one in the room. After seeing that the coast was clear, she hurried in and closed the door behind her.
Setting the lamp on a table near the shelves, she hastily made her way to the shelves and began search through them for any book title that made any hint of information about eye colors.
She pulled about ten books off the shelf before she returned to the table and sat down with them. Then she skimmed through each and every one of them, hoping that they'd provide the answers to all of her questions. But she had absolutely no luck. Nothing in any of the books she pulled made any reference to eye colors. She kept pulling off more books, but still couldn't find anything. After spending nearly two hours going through the shelves, she realized that she wouldn't find anything there.
So Hermione tackled a new place. The Restricted Section. It was just way to tempting for her to resist.
And besides, nobody was there. Nobody could stop her. And it wasn't like this was her first time there, either. She had been in the Restricted Section many times before without permission, although usually accompanied by Ron, Harry, or both. She felt quite alone this time, being by herself and all.
It was a large, gated area that took up about a fourth of the area of the whole library. Whispering a simple unlocking charm, the gate swung open and she stepped in, taking in the sight. The shelves and shelves of books looked beautiful in the dim light of the lamp.
Without wasting another minute, she began to search through the books again, as she had done earlier, removing some of the ones she thought might help her. She brought them back to her desk and scanned them quickly for anything that might help her. This time, she still found nothing.
Hermione returned the books to the shelf and began to search again, restlessly. She just had to find out the answer. She just had to find out why. Two books were already in her arms and she was in the process of pulling out another when -
"You won't find anything here."
The voice startled her so much that she jumped about a foot into the air. At first, she thought perhaps it was a ghost or worse, Argus Filch, but then realized that the voice was too young to be either of those possibilities.
With a loud gasp, she spun around and faced the intruder. The first thing that she saw was the pair of silver eyes staring at her from the dark. Her sudden fear evaporated and annoyance took its place.
"You won't find anything here," he repeated, louder this time and with an unmistakable hint of arrogance in his voice.
She wanted to hit him. "What do you know, anyhow?" She wasn't going to try to be polite.
"A lot more than you," he said, stepping into the light. He still had his robes on, and his hands were in the pockets of his black slacks.
God, she was ready to kill him. "Nice hair, by the way. Love the color." She flashed him a big smile, showing off her brilliant white teeth.
She could tell he was very annoyed with that and couldn't find anything to say back to her but a simple, "Shut up, Granger."
Even in the dim light of the lamp, she could tell that the red color was coming off. The instructions had said that it would come off in about thirty shampoos and she was pretty sure Draco spent a fair amount of time washing his hair these days.
Hermione leaned back against the bookshelf and a frown replaced her smile. "Are you stalking me?"
"Stalking you?" he said with a light chuckle, as if that was the preposterous thing in the world. "You must be out of your mind."
"Then why is it that you stare at me?" she pressed, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.
Luckily for her, there was no answer.
She raised one of her eyebrows. "Are you trying to seduce me?"
His loud laugh erupted through the room and Hermione scowled. Was she really that ugly? Did Harry and Ron think she was ugly too? Did everyone think she was ugly?
"Granger, I'd rather die than be caught in bed with you," he said through his laughter. "Imagine how that would tarnish my reputation."
"Then stop following me around," she said angrily. "Stop staring at me at the time. It annoys the hell out of me."
"Isn't that the point?"
She scoffed. "You know what? You're just another rich, arrogant, little..." she couldn't finish her sentence - she couldn't find a word that suitably described him.
"Tsk, tsk. Why do you say that?" he said edging closer to her.
"Oh, okay, let me see," she said sarcastically. "So first you put tar in my toothpaste."
"Hey, I didn't tell you to brush with that stuff. You did it of your own accord."
She ignored him. "So then..." she remembered the toilet incident and blushed a deep crimson. She didn't want to talk about it. "Okay, so I won't talk about that one. And then you burn all my books, make me fail my Potions exam, and as if that's not enough, you almost kill me by blowing up a cauldron in my face! So, of course, that just doesn't give me reason enough to hate you!"
He only shrugged, as if it were nothing at all to him. "Not less than what you deserved."
Hermione stared angrily at him. "What the hell did I ever do to you?"
"For starters, you slapped me. Nobody slaps me, Granger." He looked like a seriously spoiled little brat. "And then you pour milk over my head in front of the whole god damn school! Do you know what a blow to my reputation that was? And look at my hair now. Don't deny that you did it. Because I know you did it."
"It looks wonderful," she said, smiling innocently.
"Shut up, Granger," he snapped.
But Hermione wasn't done. There were other debts that needed to be paid. "And then there's poor Lavender. How could you do that to her? Are you even human?"
He waved his hand in the air, as if he was dismissing her words. "God, that girl was so dense. She was so easy it took all the fun out of it."
She stared incredulously at him. "How can you say that? What kind of a person are you?"
He shrugged, completely carefree. "Hey, she was willing. It's not like I made her do anything."
"You bastard! That's what you think, isn't it? Can you possibly imagine how much hurt you've caused her?" she spat.
"She'll get over it," he said, flashing her a charming smile that could have made any girl's legs go weak. "All of them do."
"Now I really see what you are. You just use them for your own fun. You're a complete sadist. You have no feelings at all. You take happiness in others' sorrow!" she yelled. "You're the kind of guy in personality tests who represents the group that everyone hates!"
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about, Granger," he said, his smile wavering.
"I know exactly what I'm talking about. All you think about is getting a different girl to screw every night - that's all you ever care about. And you get away with everything just because your name is Draco Malfoy! You haven't cared a thing for anyone besides yourself in your whole life!" Hermione raised a hand to strike him.
Before her blow could hit, he grabbed her wrist tightly in his hand. "You don't know anything, Granger. You don't know shit about me."
She winced in pain at the firm hold he had on her wrist and couldn't do anything but breathe heavily, trying to get enough oxygen.
"You don't understand. My whole life has been decided for me already. Do you know what's it's like to have your whole life already blueprinted out for you? This is the only time in my life that I will be anywhere close to being happy - that I will be able to make my own decision and do whatever the hell I want," he said fiercely. "I want to have some fun while it lasts. You weren't born in a Slytherin family, you know what it feels like to be completely caged."
"You're hurting me," Hermione said, trying to tear her wrist out of his grasp. When he realized how tightly he had been holding onto her, he let go and she massaged her wrist tenderly.
"When I am of age, my father will decide who I marry - who the woman I will share the rest of my life will be. Mind you, it's probably already been decided long ago. I'll marry someone who'll make the family wealthier. And then it won't be about what I want anymore - or who I want to be with. It'll just be all about which family my father can benefit the most from politically and strategically. That's why I do what I do - because I want to have some fun now before my whole life gets thrown away."
Hermione let her gaze sink slowly into his eyes. "But that doesn't mean you have to hurt everybody along the way," she said quietly.
She turned back to the shelves of books, determined to ignore him. Maybe he'd leave her alone after he saw that she wasn't paying any attention to him.
"I already said - You won't find anything here," his voice was soft.
Hermione raised her eyebrow. "What would you know?"
"I know enough to know that you wouldn't find anything of that sort here in the Hogwarts library."
"You don't even know what you're talking about. You don't know what I'm looking for," she said, turning back to the books.
"That's where you're wrong." He stepped up behind her and was so close to her now that she could feel his breath on her neck.
"What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.
There was a hesitant pause.
"I know they don't see it." It sounded almost seductive.
She gulped. "See what?"
He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around slowly. Her head was facing the ground and he cupped his hand around her chin and raised her face.
He stared deeply into her eyes. "That's why I've been staring - I wanted to get a closer look. To make sure I wasn't going insane. And I know they don't notice - Potter and Weasley, I mean. And I don't think anyone does either."
Breathe, she instructed herself. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know exactly what I'm talking about."
She desperately wanted to change the subject. "How would you know?"
There was a pause in which he averted his eyes.
"Because I can see it."
Another pause.
"See what?" she asked, gulping.
Silence.
"Your eyes."
Silence again.
"How?" she asked, forcefully, with mixed emotions, "When even my closest friends can't?"
He turned his head back to her and looked her straight in the eye.
"I don't know," he said softly, his voice like the breeze. "I don't know."
TBC
A/N: Um...yeah. End of chapter four. Please review!
