Chapter 11- Lesson with Snape
By the time Hermione and Draco had made their way down to the dungeons for their first lesson with Snape, Hermione was shivering and Draco was aggravated.
"Why do we have to meet all the way down here?" Hermione complained, her teeth chattering.
"Why did you have to wake me up?" he shot back, still put out after being woken up and dragged down to the coldest room in the school. Hermione shot him a venomous look and he smirked back, before removing his sweatshirt and handing it to Hermione.
"Thanks." Hermione said, smiling up at him and clasping her hand in his after pulling the sweatshirt over her head. Draco rolled his eyes, not looking at Hermione. He knew they had the weirdest relationship comprehendible, but that's how they liked it. "Finally!" Hermione exclaimed, breaking Draco's thoughts as they reached the door to the potions classroom. After placing a swift kiss on Hermione's cheek, Draco positioned his usual smirk on his face and opened the door, walking in still hand in hand with Hermione.
"You're late." Said a sharp voice, making Hermione jump a little.
"Well this is a little of an inconvenience to come all the way down here to meet, Professor." Draco replied ignoring the glare he received from the Potions teacher. Hermione looked fearful, staring at the disdainful expression on Snape's face.
"Manners, Malfoy, Manners. You talk back to a death eater like that you won't live through the night." Draco only smirked, but Hermione was studying Snape's face with a hard expression.
"Is this how he's planning to prepare us? Telling us numerous ways to get ourselves killed?" Hermione thought with distaste.
"Miss Granger!" Snape barked, not appreciating the look she was giving him. "If you disagree with my methods of handling students you may leave. If you're willing to learn, however, you must trust me. You must trust Malfoy. And you must above all, trust Dumbledore. You may not, however, trust anyone else. Understood?" Hermione looked at him, speechless. "Good." Snape said. "We're going to see how well you've practiced your power." Snape said, a smirk spreading across his face.
"Great." Hermione thought, slightly scared by the look Snape was giving her, but determined nonetheless.
"Enter Malfoy's mind." Snape commanded softly. Malfoy looked up at Snape, his face full of alarm but before he could protest Hermione had slipped into his mind. She sorted through his worries of school, the receiving of dark mark, herself… she smiled. Before she could pull out of his mind however, she felt the tug of an intense memory and before she realized what she was doing she was pulling it forth…
"NO!" Draco yelled, pushing Hermione back to try to break her concentration. Hermione looked at Draco, but dropped her gaze to the ground as tears filled her eyes. Draco was staring at a spot on the ground also. The only person in the room who seemed unfazed was Snape, who surveyed both of them without a trace of emotion on his face. He was quite impressed however. He had worked with Malfoy in a similar fashion, but he had never reached far enough into Malfoy's memory to reach his dark past… his weakness. He decided to break the silence.
"Mr. Malfoy. The dark lord's power is much stronger than Miss Granger's, and he would be able to reach whatever you've been hiding in an instant and trap you in it. The only way you can protect yourself is practice. You have to trust Miss Granger or I won't waste my time teaching you things that you can't handle. Miss Granger, good work, however we will have to work on your power to help you achieve entering peoples minds at will without their knowledge. We will also have to test how well you can resist Veritaserum and the unforgivables… don't stare its rude. I suggest the both of you head upstairs now and rest. Good evening." Snape concluded, exiting the room and slamming the door behind him.
Slowly Hermione and Draco made their way upstairs to the common room, neither saying anything. Hermione was tugging at the sweatshirt she had borrowed, nervously. She chanced a look at Draco, but his gaze was fixed intently at a spot in front of him.
"Draco?" she asked, tentatively. Ignoring the silence that greeted her, Hermione continued as if there was no tension. "I was hoping we could talk." She was caught off guard when he spun around, grabbing her arm forcefully.
"There is nothing to talk about, Granger! I don't need your pity! Just forget you ever saw anything! Forget about it!" he yelled, shoving an advancing Hermione away and marched off, fuming. Hermione stared at his retreating back, feeling an overwhelming sadness wash over her. Shaking her head slightly, Hermione tried to clear her thoughts.
"Draco may need me right now, but I think right now we need space. I should try to get my mind off of him…" she thought, as she headed to the Gryffindor common room.
~
"Hey guys!" Hermione said, her shadow obscuring Harry and Ron's view of the wizard chessboard between them.
"Hermione! One minute I'm just about to beat Harry…" Ron said as Harry jumped up to meet Hermione, while swiftly kicking the chessboard managing to send the pieces flying.
"Woops! Sorry mate! Didn't see it there." Harry said, throwing Hermione a small wink. Ron scowled up at him.
"I was going to beat you anyways." He said, defensively.
"Course." Harry replied, moving quickly away from the chessboard, steering Hermione to one of the chairs near the fireplace.
"Haven't seen much of you lately, Hermione." He said, quietly, as Ron made his way over to them.
"I know." Hermione replied, instantly feeling a twinge of guilt in her stomach. "How could I have forgotten my best friends so quickly after being with Draco?" she thought. Plopping into the seat next to Hermione, Ron yawned loudly.
"Where the hell have you been, 'Mione?" he asked, giving her a grin. "I've been ready to kill myself with just that whiner over there who's madly in love with my sister to talk to." Ron said, laughing. Even Hermione couldn't suppress her laughter as she saw Harry choke at Ron's words, his face turning flushed.
"Ron seems to think I'm into Ginny." Harry said to Hermione, as if it was the most ridiculous thing in the world.
"I gathered that." She replied, still laughing. "Wait… you still haven't asked her out yet?" she asked, incredulously, sending Ron into fits of laughter.
"I don't see why your laughing Ron, she is your sister after all." Harry interjected, quite putout.
"Exactly." Ron said, chuckling. "If she's planning on dating, which I assume she is after that little fling with that horrible Michael kid, who better than the person I pick out?" Ron replied, amused by his own cleverness.
"Did you ever think Ronald Weasley, that maybe Harry and Ginny will go out because Harry likes her and Ginny likes Harry… whether you approve or not?" Hermione said, raising an eyebrow in challenge to Ron.
"Ever think that maybe I don't want the both of you planning out my love life for me?" Harry said, raising his voice to drown out his best friend's quarrel, quite irritated at the both of them.
"I'm sorry, Harry!" Hermione laughed, getting up to give him a hug. "I'm just worried if you don't ask Ginny out soon, you'll lose her to someone else… forever."
"Yeah, and that will be my problem not yours." Harry replied, even though he felt no resentment to his best friend. "Now don't go telling Ginny anything about me in one of your little girl talks… ok?" Harry added, feeling his last statement was a little harsh.
"Of course not." Hermione replied, smiling mischievously, before turning to Ron. "Now about you and Lavender…" she said, laughing, as Harry rolled his eyes behind her back.
~
Draco was pacing his room, frustrated. "Why did she have to find out? What is she going to think about me now?" he thought, before guilt set in. "She didn't mean to read that memory, and I yelled at her and pushed her away. What's wrong with me? If I loose her too…" Draco shuddered and trailed off realizing that the thought of loosing Hermione was too much to bear. Frustrated, he picked up the closest thing to him and threw it at the wall. His anger vanished, as he looked at the object he had thrown, the book Hermione had "borrowed" on the train to Hogwarts. It felt like a million years ago. Staring at the innocent book, he ripped the hangings from his bed forcefully throwing them at the book, hoping this would obliterate it from his sight. It was a link to the memory Hermione had entered. Draco cursed under his breath and threw his cloak over his shoulder, heading out of the dormitory.
A/N: tee hee! Next chappie you can find out what Draco's horrible little memory is! I know… I'm horrible. Anyways I'm not sure what I think about this chapter… lemme know if ya like it… hate it… review! ;-)