Never Say Never
Chapter 22 - Innocent Eyes
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the hopefully good plot =P
A/N - thank you so much HarryPotterWanter for telling about the bold and the italics!
Draco's POV
We left the corridor that Hermione's room was on and proceeded to go down another flight of stairs before turning right again onto a darker hallway that was navy blue with grey splashes here and there. It didn't look too bad and I wasn't too surprised that Voldemort had made this mansion so lavish, after all if you could weld such powerful magic, why not put it to good use?
Snape continued to lead me down the corridor but he was slowing down so I assumed I was going to be staying in one of the rooms near here. We hadn't spoken a word since we had left Hermione at her new room but it wasn't an awkward silence that hung in the air, it was more of a silence that showed that neither of us wanted to talk.
But, I did have something that I was itching to ask him and so when we arrived at my new abode I broke the silence and invited him to stay for awhile in my room. He reluctantly accepted and as I opened the door my eyes feasted on the extravagant furnishings that rivaled the Malfoy Manor.
There was a large forest green four poster bed in the centre of the room next to the wall, a grand black oak desk and quite curiously a plush deep marine coloured armchair not unlike the one I glimpsed in Hermione's room. They had been seemingly placed there to remind us of the common room back in Hogwarts.
I let my eyes explore the rest of the room and saw that I had a nice bay window seat that had velvety cushions that would provide me with a peaceful spot to mull some things over and I guessed that the view from the window would also be spectacular during the daytime.
I stood there admiring my new room for a few more moments before coming to my senses and gestured for Snape to sit on the bay window seat while I took the armchair and turned it to face him. He gave me an inquisitive look, as though wondering what I could possibly be asking him at this time and place.
"Professor Snape, I would like to ask you a question." I began slowly, giving him time to nod his assent.
"Well, I was listening to your conversation with the Dark Lord about Hermione, and I heard you calling her The One. Why did you call her that? What is 'The One'?" I asked quietly. His face immediately paled and if possible, became more sallow. He grimaced before beginning to speak to me in a dull voice.
"I don't think that it is my place to tell you this Draco. But, I suppose that you'll have to know sometime or another, after all you have a part to play in this too.." He sighed heavily and this sparked my curiousity further.
"Hermione is called "The One" simply because she has been mentioned in an ancient prophecy, where a powerful lord has an heir whose blood runs true in them and becomes even more powerful than the lord himself. This witch is Hermione." Said Snape quietly. But I was still nonplussed and asked him a question.
"So? How do you know if the heir isn't me? Does it have to be Hermione?"
"In the prophecy it states that The One is to become the most powerful witch in Wizarding history. Her powers will surpass even the Dark Lord himself, and He knows that. Which is why He seeks to keep her safe and well protected now, but yet after the birth of the child He will immediately kill her in her vulnerable, weakened state after childbirth. He knows that He can not afford to let her live. She is the only one that can truly defeat the Dark Lord." Finished Snape bitterly.
My mind went back to the time that Voldemort had said to Hermione:
"I warn you. If you decide to return to the Light side, then you have forsaken your true destiny, to become the most powerful witch in history."
Coupled with this information that Snape had just given me, the prospect of Voldemort harming Hermione was becoming more and more imminent.
"I don't understand Professor. What child?! Whose child?! Why is Voldemort going to kill one of His precious heirs?!" I exclaimed angrily.
"Why Draco, it will obviously be your child.." Answered Snape archly. I looked back at him, with a flabbergasted expression on my face. My child?! Me and Hermione..?! But we were only 17.
"Professor, but, we're only - "
"Don't question the Fates, Draco. It has been foreseen in the prophecy that such thing will happen, that Voldemort's two heirs will produce a last heir who will succeed the Dark Lord. Rest assured, Draco that you will not be a Dark Lord, but rather the father of one. He will be extremely powerful, even more so than the Dark Lord for he will have pure powerful wizarding blood in him, from the Dark Lord through his parents being the heirs, as well as Lestrange and Malfoy blood." Explained Snape amusedly. I squirmed uncomfortably; Voldemort was going to kill Hermione?! I just couldn't comprehend it.
"But Professor, is there anyway to stop this?! Hermione can't ." I trailed off lamely.
"No. There is no way of stopping the Fates." Replied Snape gravely. He wore a mask of regret on his face and for once I realized that he cared for Hermione as well, knowing that she was just an innocent person caught up in this Dark world. His disdain for her had clearly evaporated as he realized her true identity; and was replaced with sympathy and remorse.
"We could try and destroy Voldemort altogether." I said quietly giving him a furtive glance. Snape snorted derisively.
"I know that you hold yourself in very high esteem, Draco, but I must say, if you think that you can defeat the Dark Lord on your own, you have gotten very arrogant indeed."
"But Professor I am His heir!" I protested indignantly.
"But not The One." He responded smoothly. I grimaced, "Draco, you must understand that He will not kill you. The one that He is after is Hermione, because after all she will be the downfall of Him, the true downfall. You are only there to father His real heir, the one that will righteously take His place. It might hurt your pride for me to say this, but you are nothing compared to the importance of Hermione. She is the only hope for the Light side, and the only hope for the rest of the wizarding world. We can not let any harm come to her. Without her, we are nothing."
I was stunned at his words. Hermione alone carried the responsibility of preventing the world from falling into darkness. I smiled grimly, I had thought that we both would share the burden. My heart was becoming heavier with the realization of the full extent of Snape's and my task in leaving the Dark side to defeat Voldemort; we first had to get out of here before He got a firm grip on Hermione's sentimental heart, and before He deceives her into thinking Darkly.
As I elaborated on that thought, it seemed as though the room became darker; a lot darker. I blinked, and shook my head to clear my mind, but the room seemed no different to what it had been like only a moment ago, were my eyes playing tricks on me? Snape was looking at me strangely and I managed a small smile at him.
"Professor, do you think that with Hermione's help we could stop Him?" I asked tentatively.
"Of course, without a doubt. We will prevail, Draco, just as long both of you stay on the Light side. He didn't know what He was doing when He chose to make you two His heirs, complications in His perfect plan have not been considered, trust me, and we will have to rely on this flaw to win." Said Snape fiercely, I had never seen him look so determined.
"Do we have a plan?" I asked quietly.
"Obviously, Draco. The first part of the plan is getting both of you out of this wretched place, and I suggest that you speak to Hermione soon and inform her of our plan, but don't breathe a word to her about being The One. It will make her heart much heavier." Replied Snape firmly, he got up from the bay window seat and moving to the door, "Good night, sleep well."
"Good night Professor." I said before closing the dark wooden door.
I had a fitful sleep that night, haunted with nightmares.
--
When I awoke the next morning my first thought was to get to Hermione straight away. My second thought was that that was impossible in these circumstances and that I was in the power of Voldemort and that it was highly unlikely that I would have any time to speak to her privately until tonight.
A loud rapping at my door interrupted my train of thought and I quickly got up from my bed and scrambled to the door to open it. The face that I was met with was not welcome.
"Mister Malfoy, good morning. My Lord has requested for me to inform you that He is expecting your presence at breakfast in the Dining Hall soon and also at the Grand Council which will be taking place in the Retiring Room located next to the Dining Hall." Squeaked Pettigrew, the rat-faced pathetic follower of Voldemort.
"Tell the Him that I will be down shortly." I replied flatly and hastily shutting the door in his face.
I quickly made my way to the wardrobe and took out a set of forest green robes, they surprisingly suited me nicely and in no time I was ready to make my way down to have breakfast. Somehow I found my way to the Dining Hall and as I entered the vast room with a long black polished table set in the centre of it, I realized that my father was there sitting four seats down from the Dark Lord.
The look that he wore on his face was priceless and intriguing, it was a cross between smugness [for knowing that his son was one of the heirs] and bitterness [most probably due to the fact that I was effortlessly going to be much more important to his Master than he ever was going to be!]. But this expression was smartly replaced with a welcoming smile and his deep voice loudly declaring my arrival.
"Draco! Son, come and take a seat here." He beckoned for me to sit next to him, the Dark Lord merely smiled at this and flicked his wand, making a chair materialize out of thin air and land next to my father. I strode briskly to the seat and smirked at my father, he seemed taken aback.
"Good morning Draco." Said Voldemort pleasantly, "Where is Hermione?"
"I don't know, my lord, I think that she still isn't ready to come down yet, perhaps she had a bad night's sleep." I replied calmly, taking my fork and spearing a small piece of bacon on it. Thank god they had normal food here, I had been under the impression that they only ate strange foods at mealtimes, as though the food would be just as dark as the consumers of it were.
"Ahh, Hermione! How lovely you look this morning." Voldemort suddenly exclaimed, upon seeing Hermione standing in the entrance standing cautiously, as though not knowing what to do, "come and join us for breakfast."
Her warm chocolate brown eyes met mine as she came closer and I could not restrain myself from smiling at her twinkling eyes, she seemed quite content today actually, and that was strange considering the graveness of our task. Which reminded me, I needed to talk to her soon.
My eyes drifted down to see what she was wearing today, a set of lilac purple robes that flowed smoothly and looked soft and sweet on her; she looked exactly like an angel. I murmured my approval as she passed me and she grinned at me, making me feel considerably happier; maybe today wouldn't be too bad at all.
The rest of breakfast passed rather uneventfully and soon the people who had been seated at the table were all shuffling into the room connected to the hall by a set of impressively carved ash doors that opened magically to allow access into the scholarly seeming room.
The Retiring Room was filled with bookcases but was large enough to fit around thirty 'noble' men comfortably in a variety of seats ranging from sofas, chaise lounges to the good old armchairs. It was decorated in maroon and grey and overall gave the impression that it was a rich man's study.
Voldemort gestured for Hermione and me to sit on either side of Him and we obeyed, sitting ourselves down next to His large leather reclining chair. He began to speak to his Death Eaters in a low voice, a voice that wouldn't have been heard in the usual din of assemblies in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, but oddly enough there wasn't a single sound apart from Voldemort's low voice.
"My dear supporters, I have called all of you here to a Grand Council to introduce to you the two people that will be paving the way for an even better future for us; my two heirs, Hermione Lestrange and Draco Malfoy." He said regally and the room suddenly erupted with stiff clapping from the men.
When the applause had died down, Voldemort continued on with proclaiming how we would be following in his footsteps one day and I gazed at him, realizing how manipulative this man really was, that even though I knew all these words were total lies, I was still drawn in by the pure charm that was in them.
I also realized that it would be next to impossible to deceive this man.
--
The day seemed to drag on and on, it seemed to me that Hermione and I were being treated like royalty, just for now at least. I saw Snape give Hermione an anxious look and I wanted to assure him that both of us would be alright, I knew that we were both tougher than he thought we were. I really needed to talk to Hermione soon and after spending most of the day waiting for a chance to take her away from all the formalities with the nobles and Death Eaters I finally seized the opportunity when it came up after dinner.
She was just standing outside on a terrace staring dreamily at the stars, and it seemed as though the luminescence of the stars were in her eyes too when she looked at me with something shining in her eye. I smiled gently at her and softly approached her, taking care not to make too much noise to alert the attention of somebody else.
"Hey." I whispered when I got to where she was standing near the railing of the balcony.
"Hey Draco." She replied turning to face me.
"Listen, do you want to go to my room or something? I have something I want to talk to you about." I said in an undertone gripping her hand before she could make up her mind.
We slipped stealthily out of the Dining Hall though I was sure Voldemort knew we were sneaking out, but hopefully He didn't know what I was going to tell her. I guided her through the maze of corridors until we reached my room and I never let her hand leave my grasp until the door clicked shut lightly behind us.
She let her eyes take in the environment of my room and I saw her gasp appreciatively. I grinned and led her to the bay window seat and let her admire the view from my very own 'balcony', I was very satisfied when she said breathlessly,
"Its beautiful."
"Yeah, the Dark Lord sure knows how to use His powers eh?" I replied sardonically and she smiled wryly at that. Then her next question broke the atmosphere of the moment.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" she asked casually, leaning back on the window.
"Uhm.well I just wanted to tell you about me and Snape's plan about getting out of here. I mean we're going to have to sooner or later before he suspects us for being Light right? But meanwhile, we have to act like his heirs before Snape can give us a window of time where we can leave this place without Him knowing, maybe in the middle of the night or something, I don't know, but its vital that you don't get deceived by Him." I said quietly. Hermione nodded slowly, and motioned for me to continue.
"Alright, all Snape wants us to do for now is try to get as much information as possible without Him getting suspicious. Once the time is right, we'll leave here, even if we haven't gotten any information, because there's only going to be one chance for us to get out without Him knowing. Snape's arranging that carefully, so we have to be really alert because it can be at any time from now." I stated confidently.
Hermione was quite silent for a few moments before responding to my proposal.
"I see.so we could be getting out here anytime right?" I nodded, "But Draco, there's a problem.I don't want to leave."
I looked at her with my eyes widened, Snape and my worst fear was confirmed, Voldemort was using His powers to manipulate Hermione into wanting to stay at the Lestrange estate.
"Hermione! Snap out of it! Don't let Him get a grip on you!" I exclaimed urgently, taking her slim shoulders into my hands and giving her a little shake.
"I saw a photo of my parents yesterday night.and I saw them in my dreams after I cried myself to sleep." she said with anguish in her voice, "They were talking to me.they wanted for me to wait for them."
I held her close to me in shock, feeling the drops of tears from her eyes wet the front of my robes, feeling her slender hands clutch at my shoulders for support, bitter sobbing racked her thin body and pulled her even closer until there was not a single inch of space between us.
"Why couldn't I have ever known them? Why are they in Azkaban? Why does my heart feel as though it is being torn into two knowing that my real parents are in prison and my.other parents aren't really my parents.I can't desert them, because they've loved me for all these years, kept me safe, taken care of me.but." she trailed off.
I didn't know what to do because she just seemed so lost.I nearly laughed out loud, Hermione Granger the genius was lost?! Hermione Granger the smart, witty, Mudblood. As I looked at her, I saw that nothing had changed in her except for the fact that she wasn't a Mudblood, but a pureblood and not Hermione Granger but Hermione Lestrange, over all she was still the girl that I used to know. The same stubborn, beautiful, interesting girl.
"Oh, don't feel like that.don't think about it too much.what's happened has happened and you cant change the course of fate anyway so there's no point in wallowing in self-pity. What we have to concentrate on now is getting out of here and being able to save the wizarding world." I stated firmly, then added hastily, "I know that sounds really melodramatic but it's the truth."
Hermione managed a watery smile at me and she let me gently dry the tears streaked on her smooth cheeks. I smiled fondly at her and realized with a start that I was holding her in my arms and that our noses were already touching; we were that close to each other.
I saw a startled look come over Hermione's face and I knew that she had realized what an awkward position we were in too, but then I saw her relax and I thought to myself 'what the hell, I might never get the chance again' and let my emotions take over and the next moment my lips were on her soft ones gently caressing them.
The kiss was gentle at first, but then her lips parted and the kiss deepened, I felt her tongue entwining with mine, making me moan with pleasure and I felt that her arm had found its way to my back and she was stroking it lightly, telling me that she was enjoying the kiss too.
Without breaking the kiss, which was getting more frantic I pushed her smoothly onto the bed and I marveled at how right it felt to have her beneath me, but then she suddenly pulled away from me and I immediately felt the loss of her warm lips on mine.
"What's wrong?" I asked, my voice surprisingly husky.
"Nothing.I'm just unsure." she answered shakily, her cheeks were flushed.
"What do you mean?" I asked cautiously, feeling uncertain myself, but I didn't move from my position.
"It just seems too much.like finding out who my real parents are.having the responsibility of 'saving the world' and needing to escape from here.my home.I'm so sorry Draco but I don't think I can handle this at the moment." She said softly, biting her lip nervously.
"Oh." Was all I managed to choke out. Her chocolate brown eyes looked worriedly into mine and I could feel the compassion in them. Her eyes were telling me that she wanted me too, but she was also telling me that she meant those words. I sighed. Why did Voldemort have to come into our lives? If He hadn't had anything to do with us, there wouldn't have been an Annika to stop the relationship between Hermione and me and we wouldn't be here, under the power of Him.
"Can you wait?" asked Hermione timidly, her eyes silently pleading with me.
"Of course." I replied, giving her a quick peck on the cheek as an answer.
She smiled sadly at me, and put her arms around my neck, pulling me closer to her.
"I'm so sorry." she whispered in my ear.
"It's alright. I understand." I replied, nuzzling my face into the crook of her neck, "Stay here with me tonight, I don't want you going anywhere, for some reason I feel as though its safer for you to be here than alone in your own room."
"Draco! I thought you said you could wait!" exclaimed Hermione indignantly.
"No! I don't mean.I just want you to stay here, by my side." I mumbled quietly.
Hermione just chuckled and rolled onto her side and drew the dark green covers around her and settled herself on one of the pillows on my bed. She looked at me with wide innocent eyes as though she didn't know why I was looking at her strangely. I guess I was just giving her that look because she didn't storm out of the room protesting that she could take care of herself.
"I take it that you accept my offer." I said grandly, sliding into the bed myself. I immediately felt Hermione warmth beside me and her smile warmed me up inside too.
"That's right." She replied, throwing her arms around me. We snuggled closer to each other and she murmured a 'goodnight' in my ear sleepily before dropping off. I could tell by the slight dark circles under her eyes that she hadn't been getting a lot of sleep lately and I was content just to watch her for awhile.
Soon enough though I fell asleep too and to my relief, there were no more dark dreams clouding my mind, and I think I could safely say that that night as we held each other in our sleep, we had a fairly peaceful slumber.
Hey everyone!
Sorry for not updating last week! Some things just came up and combined with writer's block, I just couldn't get a new chapter up last week. But note that this week my chapter was pretty long.over 4000 words in fact!
Anyway, I hope you guys like how the story is progressing and I just threw in a little romance, since I thought that it was getting a bit neglected. I hoped that you guys enjoyed it! =)
But, on the other hand if you guys think that my story isn't progressing well, then I think you should make a suggestion on how I could improve my story! In other words.PLEASE REVIEW!!
Cheers,
psychohart
Chapter 22 - Innocent Eyes
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the hopefully good plot =P
A/N - thank you so much HarryPotterWanter for telling about the bold and the italics!
Draco's POV
We left the corridor that Hermione's room was on and proceeded to go down another flight of stairs before turning right again onto a darker hallway that was navy blue with grey splashes here and there. It didn't look too bad and I wasn't too surprised that Voldemort had made this mansion so lavish, after all if you could weld such powerful magic, why not put it to good use?
Snape continued to lead me down the corridor but he was slowing down so I assumed I was going to be staying in one of the rooms near here. We hadn't spoken a word since we had left Hermione at her new room but it wasn't an awkward silence that hung in the air, it was more of a silence that showed that neither of us wanted to talk.
But, I did have something that I was itching to ask him and so when we arrived at my new abode I broke the silence and invited him to stay for awhile in my room. He reluctantly accepted and as I opened the door my eyes feasted on the extravagant furnishings that rivaled the Malfoy Manor.
There was a large forest green four poster bed in the centre of the room next to the wall, a grand black oak desk and quite curiously a plush deep marine coloured armchair not unlike the one I glimpsed in Hermione's room. They had been seemingly placed there to remind us of the common room back in Hogwarts.
I let my eyes explore the rest of the room and saw that I had a nice bay window seat that had velvety cushions that would provide me with a peaceful spot to mull some things over and I guessed that the view from the window would also be spectacular during the daytime.
I stood there admiring my new room for a few more moments before coming to my senses and gestured for Snape to sit on the bay window seat while I took the armchair and turned it to face him. He gave me an inquisitive look, as though wondering what I could possibly be asking him at this time and place.
"Professor Snape, I would like to ask you a question." I began slowly, giving him time to nod his assent.
"Well, I was listening to your conversation with the Dark Lord about Hermione, and I heard you calling her The One. Why did you call her that? What is 'The One'?" I asked quietly. His face immediately paled and if possible, became more sallow. He grimaced before beginning to speak to me in a dull voice.
"I don't think that it is my place to tell you this Draco. But, I suppose that you'll have to know sometime or another, after all you have a part to play in this too.." He sighed heavily and this sparked my curiousity further.
"Hermione is called "The One" simply because she has been mentioned in an ancient prophecy, where a powerful lord has an heir whose blood runs true in them and becomes even more powerful than the lord himself. This witch is Hermione." Said Snape quietly. But I was still nonplussed and asked him a question.
"So? How do you know if the heir isn't me? Does it have to be Hermione?"
"In the prophecy it states that The One is to become the most powerful witch in Wizarding history. Her powers will surpass even the Dark Lord himself, and He knows that. Which is why He seeks to keep her safe and well protected now, but yet after the birth of the child He will immediately kill her in her vulnerable, weakened state after childbirth. He knows that He can not afford to let her live. She is the only one that can truly defeat the Dark Lord." Finished Snape bitterly.
My mind went back to the time that Voldemort had said to Hermione:
"I warn you. If you decide to return to the Light side, then you have forsaken your true destiny, to become the most powerful witch in history."
Coupled with this information that Snape had just given me, the prospect of Voldemort harming Hermione was becoming more and more imminent.
"I don't understand Professor. What child?! Whose child?! Why is Voldemort going to kill one of His precious heirs?!" I exclaimed angrily.
"Why Draco, it will obviously be your child.." Answered Snape archly. I looked back at him, with a flabbergasted expression on my face. My child?! Me and Hermione..?! But we were only 17.
"Professor, but, we're only - "
"Don't question the Fates, Draco. It has been foreseen in the prophecy that such thing will happen, that Voldemort's two heirs will produce a last heir who will succeed the Dark Lord. Rest assured, Draco that you will not be a Dark Lord, but rather the father of one. He will be extremely powerful, even more so than the Dark Lord for he will have pure powerful wizarding blood in him, from the Dark Lord through his parents being the heirs, as well as Lestrange and Malfoy blood." Explained Snape amusedly. I squirmed uncomfortably; Voldemort was going to kill Hermione?! I just couldn't comprehend it.
"But Professor, is there anyway to stop this?! Hermione can't ." I trailed off lamely.
"No. There is no way of stopping the Fates." Replied Snape gravely. He wore a mask of regret on his face and for once I realized that he cared for Hermione as well, knowing that she was just an innocent person caught up in this Dark world. His disdain for her had clearly evaporated as he realized her true identity; and was replaced with sympathy and remorse.
"We could try and destroy Voldemort altogether." I said quietly giving him a furtive glance. Snape snorted derisively.
"I know that you hold yourself in very high esteem, Draco, but I must say, if you think that you can defeat the Dark Lord on your own, you have gotten very arrogant indeed."
"But Professor I am His heir!" I protested indignantly.
"But not The One." He responded smoothly. I grimaced, "Draco, you must understand that He will not kill you. The one that He is after is Hermione, because after all she will be the downfall of Him, the true downfall. You are only there to father His real heir, the one that will righteously take His place. It might hurt your pride for me to say this, but you are nothing compared to the importance of Hermione. She is the only hope for the Light side, and the only hope for the rest of the wizarding world. We can not let any harm come to her. Without her, we are nothing."
I was stunned at his words. Hermione alone carried the responsibility of preventing the world from falling into darkness. I smiled grimly, I had thought that we both would share the burden. My heart was becoming heavier with the realization of the full extent of Snape's and my task in leaving the Dark side to defeat Voldemort; we first had to get out of here before He got a firm grip on Hermione's sentimental heart, and before He deceives her into thinking Darkly.
As I elaborated on that thought, it seemed as though the room became darker; a lot darker. I blinked, and shook my head to clear my mind, but the room seemed no different to what it had been like only a moment ago, were my eyes playing tricks on me? Snape was looking at me strangely and I managed a small smile at him.
"Professor, do you think that with Hermione's help we could stop Him?" I asked tentatively.
"Of course, without a doubt. We will prevail, Draco, just as long both of you stay on the Light side. He didn't know what He was doing when He chose to make you two His heirs, complications in His perfect plan have not been considered, trust me, and we will have to rely on this flaw to win." Said Snape fiercely, I had never seen him look so determined.
"Do we have a plan?" I asked quietly.
"Obviously, Draco. The first part of the plan is getting both of you out of this wretched place, and I suggest that you speak to Hermione soon and inform her of our plan, but don't breathe a word to her about being The One. It will make her heart much heavier." Replied Snape firmly, he got up from the bay window seat and moving to the door, "Good night, sleep well."
"Good night Professor." I said before closing the dark wooden door.
I had a fitful sleep that night, haunted with nightmares.
--
When I awoke the next morning my first thought was to get to Hermione straight away. My second thought was that that was impossible in these circumstances and that I was in the power of Voldemort and that it was highly unlikely that I would have any time to speak to her privately until tonight.
A loud rapping at my door interrupted my train of thought and I quickly got up from my bed and scrambled to the door to open it. The face that I was met with was not welcome.
"Mister Malfoy, good morning. My Lord has requested for me to inform you that He is expecting your presence at breakfast in the Dining Hall soon and also at the Grand Council which will be taking place in the Retiring Room located next to the Dining Hall." Squeaked Pettigrew, the rat-faced pathetic follower of Voldemort.
"Tell the Him that I will be down shortly." I replied flatly and hastily shutting the door in his face.
I quickly made my way to the wardrobe and took out a set of forest green robes, they surprisingly suited me nicely and in no time I was ready to make my way down to have breakfast. Somehow I found my way to the Dining Hall and as I entered the vast room with a long black polished table set in the centre of it, I realized that my father was there sitting four seats down from the Dark Lord.
The look that he wore on his face was priceless and intriguing, it was a cross between smugness [for knowing that his son was one of the heirs] and bitterness [most probably due to the fact that I was effortlessly going to be much more important to his Master than he ever was going to be!]. But this expression was smartly replaced with a welcoming smile and his deep voice loudly declaring my arrival.
"Draco! Son, come and take a seat here." He beckoned for me to sit next to him, the Dark Lord merely smiled at this and flicked his wand, making a chair materialize out of thin air and land next to my father. I strode briskly to the seat and smirked at my father, he seemed taken aback.
"Good morning Draco." Said Voldemort pleasantly, "Where is Hermione?"
"I don't know, my lord, I think that she still isn't ready to come down yet, perhaps she had a bad night's sleep." I replied calmly, taking my fork and spearing a small piece of bacon on it. Thank god they had normal food here, I had been under the impression that they only ate strange foods at mealtimes, as though the food would be just as dark as the consumers of it were.
"Ahh, Hermione! How lovely you look this morning." Voldemort suddenly exclaimed, upon seeing Hermione standing in the entrance standing cautiously, as though not knowing what to do, "come and join us for breakfast."
Her warm chocolate brown eyes met mine as she came closer and I could not restrain myself from smiling at her twinkling eyes, she seemed quite content today actually, and that was strange considering the graveness of our task. Which reminded me, I needed to talk to her soon.
My eyes drifted down to see what she was wearing today, a set of lilac purple robes that flowed smoothly and looked soft and sweet on her; she looked exactly like an angel. I murmured my approval as she passed me and she grinned at me, making me feel considerably happier; maybe today wouldn't be too bad at all.
The rest of breakfast passed rather uneventfully and soon the people who had been seated at the table were all shuffling into the room connected to the hall by a set of impressively carved ash doors that opened magically to allow access into the scholarly seeming room.
The Retiring Room was filled with bookcases but was large enough to fit around thirty 'noble' men comfortably in a variety of seats ranging from sofas, chaise lounges to the good old armchairs. It was decorated in maroon and grey and overall gave the impression that it was a rich man's study.
Voldemort gestured for Hermione and me to sit on either side of Him and we obeyed, sitting ourselves down next to His large leather reclining chair. He began to speak to his Death Eaters in a low voice, a voice that wouldn't have been heard in the usual din of assemblies in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, but oddly enough there wasn't a single sound apart from Voldemort's low voice.
"My dear supporters, I have called all of you here to a Grand Council to introduce to you the two people that will be paving the way for an even better future for us; my two heirs, Hermione Lestrange and Draco Malfoy." He said regally and the room suddenly erupted with stiff clapping from the men.
When the applause had died down, Voldemort continued on with proclaiming how we would be following in his footsteps one day and I gazed at him, realizing how manipulative this man really was, that even though I knew all these words were total lies, I was still drawn in by the pure charm that was in them.
I also realized that it would be next to impossible to deceive this man.
--
The day seemed to drag on and on, it seemed to me that Hermione and I were being treated like royalty, just for now at least. I saw Snape give Hermione an anxious look and I wanted to assure him that both of us would be alright, I knew that we were both tougher than he thought we were. I really needed to talk to Hermione soon and after spending most of the day waiting for a chance to take her away from all the formalities with the nobles and Death Eaters I finally seized the opportunity when it came up after dinner.
She was just standing outside on a terrace staring dreamily at the stars, and it seemed as though the luminescence of the stars were in her eyes too when she looked at me with something shining in her eye. I smiled gently at her and softly approached her, taking care not to make too much noise to alert the attention of somebody else.
"Hey." I whispered when I got to where she was standing near the railing of the balcony.
"Hey Draco." She replied turning to face me.
"Listen, do you want to go to my room or something? I have something I want to talk to you about." I said in an undertone gripping her hand before she could make up her mind.
We slipped stealthily out of the Dining Hall though I was sure Voldemort knew we were sneaking out, but hopefully He didn't know what I was going to tell her. I guided her through the maze of corridors until we reached my room and I never let her hand leave my grasp until the door clicked shut lightly behind us.
She let her eyes take in the environment of my room and I saw her gasp appreciatively. I grinned and led her to the bay window seat and let her admire the view from my very own 'balcony', I was very satisfied when she said breathlessly,
"Its beautiful."
"Yeah, the Dark Lord sure knows how to use His powers eh?" I replied sardonically and she smiled wryly at that. Then her next question broke the atmosphere of the moment.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" she asked casually, leaning back on the window.
"Uhm.well I just wanted to tell you about me and Snape's plan about getting out of here. I mean we're going to have to sooner or later before he suspects us for being Light right? But meanwhile, we have to act like his heirs before Snape can give us a window of time where we can leave this place without Him knowing, maybe in the middle of the night or something, I don't know, but its vital that you don't get deceived by Him." I said quietly. Hermione nodded slowly, and motioned for me to continue.
"Alright, all Snape wants us to do for now is try to get as much information as possible without Him getting suspicious. Once the time is right, we'll leave here, even if we haven't gotten any information, because there's only going to be one chance for us to get out without Him knowing. Snape's arranging that carefully, so we have to be really alert because it can be at any time from now." I stated confidently.
Hermione was quite silent for a few moments before responding to my proposal.
"I see.so we could be getting out here anytime right?" I nodded, "But Draco, there's a problem.I don't want to leave."
I looked at her with my eyes widened, Snape and my worst fear was confirmed, Voldemort was using His powers to manipulate Hermione into wanting to stay at the Lestrange estate.
"Hermione! Snap out of it! Don't let Him get a grip on you!" I exclaimed urgently, taking her slim shoulders into my hands and giving her a little shake.
"I saw a photo of my parents yesterday night.and I saw them in my dreams after I cried myself to sleep." she said with anguish in her voice, "They were talking to me.they wanted for me to wait for them."
I held her close to me in shock, feeling the drops of tears from her eyes wet the front of my robes, feeling her slender hands clutch at my shoulders for support, bitter sobbing racked her thin body and pulled her even closer until there was not a single inch of space between us.
"Why couldn't I have ever known them? Why are they in Azkaban? Why does my heart feel as though it is being torn into two knowing that my real parents are in prison and my.other parents aren't really my parents.I can't desert them, because they've loved me for all these years, kept me safe, taken care of me.but." she trailed off.
I didn't know what to do because she just seemed so lost.I nearly laughed out loud, Hermione Granger the genius was lost?! Hermione Granger the smart, witty, Mudblood. As I looked at her, I saw that nothing had changed in her except for the fact that she wasn't a Mudblood, but a pureblood and not Hermione Granger but Hermione Lestrange, over all she was still the girl that I used to know. The same stubborn, beautiful, interesting girl.
"Oh, don't feel like that.don't think about it too much.what's happened has happened and you cant change the course of fate anyway so there's no point in wallowing in self-pity. What we have to concentrate on now is getting out of here and being able to save the wizarding world." I stated firmly, then added hastily, "I know that sounds really melodramatic but it's the truth."
Hermione managed a watery smile at me and she let me gently dry the tears streaked on her smooth cheeks. I smiled fondly at her and realized with a start that I was holding her in my arms and that our noses were already touching; we were that close to each other.
I saw a startled look come over Hermione's face and I knew that she had realized what an awkward position we were in too, but then I saw her relax and I thought to myself 'what the hell, I might never get the chance again' and let my emotions take over and the next moment my lips were on her soft ones gently caressing them.
The kiss was gentle at first, but then her lips parted and the kiss deepened, I felt her tongue entwining with mine, making me moan with pleasure and I felt that her arm had found its way to my back and she was stroking it lightly, telling me that she was enjoying the kiss too.
Without breaking the kiss, which was getting more frantic I pushed her smoothly onto the bed and I marveled at how right it felt to have her beneath me, but then she suddenly pulled away from me and I immediately felt the loss of her warm lips on mine.
"What's wrong?" I asked, my voice surprisingly husky.
"Nothing.I'm just unsure." she answered shakily, her cheeks were flushed.
"What do you mean?" I asked cautiously, feeling uncertain myself, but I didn't move from my position.
"It just seems too much.like finding out who my real parents are.having the responsibility of 'saving the world' and needing to escape from here.my home.I'm so sorry Draco but I don't think I can handle this at the moment." She said softly, biting her lip nervously.
"Oh." Was all I managed to choke out. Her chocolate brown eyes looked worriedly into mine and I could feel the compassion in them. Her eyes were telling me that she wanted me too, but she was also telling me that she meant those words. I sighed. Why did Voldemort have to come into our lives? If He hadn't had anything to do with us, there wouldn't have been an Annika to stop the relationship between Hermione and me and we wouldn't be here, under the power of Him.
"Can you wait?" asked Hermione timidly, her eyes silently pleading with me.
"Of course." I replied, giving her a quick peck on the cheek as an answer.
She smiled sadly at me, and put her arms around my neck, pulling me closer to her.
"I'm so sorry." she whispered in my ear.
"It's alright. I understand." I replied, nuzzling my face into the crook of her neck, "Stay here with me tonight, I don't want you going anywhere, for some reason I feel as though its safer for you to be here than alone in your own room."
"Draco! I thought you said you could wait!" exclaimed Hermione indignantly.
"No! I don't mean.I just want you to stay here, by my side." I mumbled quietly.
Hermione just chuckled and rolled onto her side and drew the dark green covers around her and settled herself on one of the pillows on my bed. She looked at me with wide innocent eyes as though she didn't know why I was looking at her strangely. I guess I was just giving her that look because she didn't storm out of the room protesting that she could take care of herself.
"I take it that you accept my offer." I said grandly, sliding into the bed myself. I immediately felt Hermione warmth beside me and her smile warmed me up inside too.
"That's right." She replied, throwing her arms around me. We snuggled closer to each other and she murmured a 'goodnight' in my ear sleepily before dropping off. I could tell by the slight dark circles under her eyes that she hadn't been getting a lot of sleep lately and I was content just to watch her for awhile.
Soon enough though I fell asleep too and to my relief, there were no more dark dreams clouding my mind, and I think I could safely say that that night as we held each other in our sleep, we had a fairly peaceful slumber.
Hey everyone!
Sorry for not updating last week! Some things just came up and combined with writer's block, I just couldn't get a new chapter up last week. But note that this week my chapter was pretty long.over 4000 words in fact!
Anyway, I hope you guys like how the story is progressing and I just threw in a little romance, since I thought that it was getting a bit neglected. I hoped that you guys enjoyed it! =)
But, on the other hand if you guys think that my story isn't progressing well, then I think you should make a suggestion on how I could improve my story! In other words.PLEASE REVIEW!!
Cheers,
psychohart