Author's Note: Don't worry, Hermione won't turn evil! However she may have
to act a bit evil, but it will be acting, and she won't like it. Thanks for
the reviews! They make my day and convince me to try to get a chapter up
everyday (er...actually, this one is a bit of a treat, less than 15 hours
since my last update!)
Chapter 5
Draco sat in the Great Hall for breakfast and debated upon how to go about performing the charm. He had to have his wand in his hand, and stare at the victim for precisely 2.5 seconds after muttering the incantation. It wouldn't be hard, it wasn't any piece of dark magic, and just a counter- charm to whatever spell Dumbledore may have placed on the girl to change her looks. But the counter-charm could take as long as a whole day to show itself completely.
The Slytherins would be easy enough; he saw them everyday. He could practically rule them out anyway, but Draco wanted to be on the safe side. Wouldn't want to have another little 'chat' with Father anytime soon.
Once more people floated into the hall for breakfast, Draco figured that it would be as good as any place to start the charm. With all the normal ruckus, nobody would be paying any particular attention to him, and even if they did, it wasn't like anyone could do anything to him.
One good thing about being a Malfoy, Draco thought, nobody messes with you if you don't mess with them first.
Holding his wand underneath the table, Draco discreetly looked over at the Ravenclaw table, pretending to be staring off into space. There was Mandy something-or-another, a seventh year girl he recognized in many of his N.E.W.T. classes. He cast the spell upon her, and the girls sitting next to her, being careful to stare for two and a half seconds after muttering the incantation.
Draco spent that first day in a sort of daze, performing the spell whenever he saw a seventh year girl that had the slightest chance of being the Lestrange's long lost daughter. There were surprisingly, a lot of girls that he had never thought to even look at before. Draco knew he would probably one day marry whatever girl his parents wished him to, but that didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun now, did it?
Dinner found him once again shooting the charm discreetly. He was looking over the Hufflepuff table, and wondering if there was any chance in the world the Lestrange girl was there.
Wouldn't that be funny, the Lestrange girl prodigy, a Hufflepuff? Draco had taken to calling her the mystery girl. Could one of those girls actually be a dark-haired, dark-eyed beauty? She would certainly look like Bellatrix in her younger and saner days with strait hair, as black as night.
His focus moved onto the next table where Granger was reading and eating at the same time. Might as well do the spell on her so I can cross her off the list, Draco thought as he counted the short seconds. He was on a roll, how many times had he performed that spell today?
All of the sudden, the day's activities began to wear on him. He probably shouldn't have done it so many times on the first day, hadn't his father warned him about something like that?
He debated whether to go to the Hospital Wing or to just go to bed. He decided to just get some sleep, he'd probably be better by tomorrow. He had better lay off doing so many spells like that, but then again, he may have found the girl already. Tomorrow we'll see.
Draco didn't even remember getting into bed.
****
The necklace was right where Hermione had left it. It seemed to look up at her from it's careless position. It seemed to say to her, "How could you leave such a precious possession such as myself here on the ground?"
That's silly, she told herself. It was just that the object was so odd.and there was something familiar about it.
Hermione left it there as she took a quick shower. It was still there, waiting, when Hermione entered her bedroom. Well, what did I expect, Hermione asked herself, for it to walk away?
She knew what she had to do now. If there was one thing that Hermione didn't like, it was not knowing something. What did those symbols mean? Where had this come from? Too many questions circled in Hermione's head; she had to go to the library.
It wasn't until after afternoon classes that Hermione found time to go to the library, unfortunately. She spent most of dinner pouring through a book that most likely had the symbol in it somewhere. She had checked it out of the library when Ron had nagged her about eating, and was now furiously searching through it at the table.
"Hermione, it's the first day of classes and you're already going to the library and reading books through dinner?" Ron whined, in-between shoveling food into his mouth.
"I just have to know." Hermione said, her eyes not leaving the page. The Symbols were interesting, a whole new field of information.
But she was getting sidetracked again; she had to find the symbol of that knot. Hermione turned the page, and the next, and the next, until she had altogether stopped eating at all.
"You're obsessed, Hermione," Ron declared, then leaned over to see what she was reading. "What's all those funny symbols? They aren't runes, are they?"
"No Ron, not runes," said Hermione, exasperatingly.
"Right. What are they, then?"
"Can't you just leave me alone?"
Ron left her alone then, but she could feel the anger and heat resonating from him. He'll get over it, Hermione thought as she took the book and began to walk back to her room. It would be easier to find the knot if she was actually looking at the necklace, anyway.
Later, in the privacy of her room, Hermione was skimming through a section of the book labeled "The Most Ancient Family Symbols and Meanings" when she saw it.
There it was, exactly like the necklace laying on the floor next to Hermione. Two pieces of fine silver, woven in an unconceivable pattern that seemed to twist in each passing glance. Hermione jerked herself from the necklace's enthralling pull and turned to the book.
"The Most Ancient Symbols of the Family Lestrange."
The name popped out at her. The Lestranges were two of the Deatheaters who had escaped Azkaban almost two years ago! How had this necklace come to be here?
"Symbols of this nature are found most normally upon the crest of the House of Lestrange, and upon rare and magical heirlooms of jewelry and swords crafted especially for said Family."
Hermione read on, but the page did not go on to say anything that may have helped Hermione. Nothing about whether it might have dark spells placed upon it, or why it might have found it's way into the life of a muggleborn.
But Hermione knew that Lestrange was a name as surely evil as the name Malfoy. Determined not to touch, or even look at, the object again, Hermione resolutely shut the book with a snap and got up on her feet.
Perhaps she had been sitting down too long, or perhaps the stressful day had taken a toll on her. Whatever the reason, Hermione was more than a bit wobbly on her feet, and felt a bit ill to boot. Her vision began to cloud darkly at the edges, and before she could even think of visiting Madame Pomfrey, Hermione fell half-onto her bed in a state that was neither fainting nor sleeping, but somewhat of a combination of the two.
Chapter 5
Draco sat in the Great Hall for breakfast and debated upon how to go about performing the charm. He had to have his wand in his hand, and stare at the victim for precisely 2.5 seconds after muttering the incantation. It wouldn't be hard, it wasn't any piece of dark magic, and just a counter- charm to whatever spell Dumbledore may have placed on the girl to change her looks. But the counter-charm could take as long as a whole day to show itself completely.
The Slytherins would be easy enough; he saw them everyday. He could practically rule them out anyway, but Draco wanted to be on the safe side. Wouldn't want to have another little 'chat' with Father anytime soon.
Once more people floated into the hall for breakfast, Draco figured that it would be as good as any place to start the charm. With all the normal ruckus, nobody would be paying any particular attention to him, and even if they did, it wasn't like anyone could do anything to him.
One good thing about being a Malfoy, Draco thought, nobody messes with you if you don't mess with them first.
Holding his wand underneath the table, Draco discreetly looked over at the Ravenclaw table, pretending to be staring off into space. There was Mandy something-or-another, a seventh year girl he recognized in many of his N.E.W.T. classes. He cast the spell upon her, and the girls sitting next to her, being careful to stare for two and a half seconds after muttering the incantation.
Draco spent that first day in a sort of daze, performing the spell whenever he saw a seventh year girl that had the slightest chance of being the Lestrange's long lost daughter. There were surprisingly, a lot of girls that he had never thought to even look at before. Draco knew he would probably one day marry whatever girl his parents wished him to, but that didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun now, did it?
Dinner found him once again shooting the charm discreetly. He was looking over the Hufflepuff table, and wondering if there was any chance in the world the Lestrange girl was there.
Wouldn't that be funny, the Lestrange girl prodigy, a Hufflepuff? Draco had taken to calling her the mystery girl. Could one of those girls actually be a dark-haired, dark-eyed beauty? She would certainly look like Bellatrix in her younger and saner days with strait hair, as black as night.
His focus moved onto the next table where Granger was reading and eating at the same time. Might as well do the spell on her so I can cross her off the list, Draco thought as he counted the short seconds. He was on a roll, how many times had he performed that spell today?
All of the sudden, the day's activities began to wear on him. He probably shouldn't have done it so many times on the first day, hadn't his father warned him about something like that?
He debated whether to go to the Hospital Wing or to just go to bed. He decided to just get some sleep, he'd probably be better by tomorrow. He had better lay off doing so many spells like that, but then again, he may have found the girl already. Tomorrow we'll see.
Draco didn't even remember getting into bed.
****
The necklace was right where Hermione had left it. It seemed to look up at her from it's careless position. It seemed to say to her, "How could you leave such a precious possession such as myself here on the ground?"
That's silly, she told herself. It was just that the object was so odd.and there was something familiar about it.
Hermione left it there as she took a quick shower. It was still there, waiting, when Hermione entered her bedroom. Well, what did I expect, Hermione asked herself, for it to walk away?
She knew what she had to do now. If there was one thing that Hermione didn't like, it was not knowing something. What did those symbols mean? Where had this come from? Too many questions circled in Hermione's head; she had to go to the library.
It wasn't until after afternoon classes that Hermione found time to go to the library, unfortunately. She spent most of dinner pouring through a book that most likely had the symbol in it somewhere. She had checked it out of the library when Ron had nagged her about eating, and was now furiously searching through it at the table.
"Hermione, it's the first day of classes and you're already going to the library and reading books through dinner?" Ron whined, in-between shoveling food into his mouth.
"I just have to know." Hermione said, her eyes not leaving the page. The Symbols were interesting, a whole new field of information.
But she was getting sidetracked again; she had to find the symbol of that knot. Hermione turned the page, and the next, and the next, until she had altogether stopped eating at all.
"You're obsessed, Hermione," Ron declared, then leaned over to see what she was reading. "What's all those funny symbols? They aren't runes, are they?"
"No Ron, not runes," said Hermione, exasperatingly.
"Right. What are they, then?"
"Can't you just leave me alone?"
Ron left her alone then, but she could feel the anger and heat resonating from him. He'll get over it, Hermione thought as she took the book and began to walk back to her room. It would be easier to find the knot if she was actually looking at the necklace, anyway.
Later, in the privacy of her room, Hermione was skimming through a section of the book labeled "The Most Ancient Family Symbols and Meanings" when she saw it.
There it was, exactly like the necklace laying on the floor next to Hermione. Two pieces of fine silver, woven in an unconceivable pattern that seemed to twist in each passing glance. Hermione jerked herself from the necklace's enthralling pull and turned to the book.
"The Most Ancient Symbols of the Family Lestrange."
The name popped out at her. The Lestranges were two of the Deatheaters who had escaped Azkaban almost two years ago! How had this necklace come to be here?
"Symbols of this nature are found most normally upon the crest of the House of Lestrange, and upon rare and magical heirlooms of jewelry and swords crafted especially for said Family."
Hermione read on, but the page did not go on to say anything that may have helped Hermione. Nothing about whether it might have dark spells placed upon it, or why it might have found it's way into the life of a muggleborn.
But Hermione knew that Lestrange was a name as surely evil as the name Malfoy. Determined not to touch, or even look at, the object again, Hermione resolutely shut the book with a snap and got up on her feet.
Perhaps she had been sitting down too long, or perhaps the stressful day had taken a toll on her. Whatever the reason, Hermione was more than a bit wobbly on her feet, and felt a bit ill to boot. Her vision began to cloud darkly at the edges, and before she could even think of visiting Madame Pomfrey, Hermione fell half-onto her bed in a state that was neither fainting nor sleeping, but somewhat of a combination of the two.
