Disclaimer: It's got something of a broken record, but here we go again: No, I do not own Harry Potter or anything else that could be connected to J.K. Rowling. I claim the rights of the plot of this story I am writing it, but anything else definitely belongs to her.
Author's Note: I keep the updates coming if the reviews keep flooding my mailbox. It's so nice that so may of you still read the story… J
Oh, and it's all right if you point out any mistakes to me…these chapters aren't beta read and I really feel bad about it, but betas simply don't seem to like me…so if my English needs correcting, feel free to tell me, but please (pretty please) put the corrected sentence in your review, otherwise it's really hard for me to check and correct things. Thanks.
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Married?!
Chapter 8
Plans
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"Excuse me, but why again did you say I should follow you? I think I didn't quite get the part." Draco had been following her for what seemed to have been ages. He was sick of the branches and twigs scratching his arms and face and the roots he occasionally tripped over and the mud and the cold and he didn't like one second of it. And on top of all that, he was following HER. Her. The source of all-evil. He shook his head. How could he have been so naïve as to ever care for her.
"You're following me, because you've got nowhere else to go." Hermione replied casually over her shoulder and tried to pluck a particularly resistant twig from her hair.
"You think you're so smart, don't you? You think you're the one who can give orders and others simply have to follow little Miss know-it-all. I was stupid enough to follow you around during the last few days, but that's over now. You know, they told me." He said as if it were a threat. "Maybe I cannot remember all of it, but I know now that you're nothing but a mudblood. You're filth. Not even your dear little Potter wants you anymore." He yelled at her back, chest heaving with anger and rage.
Hermione stopped dead in her tracks.
"Right then. I'm a mudblood." She said calmly without looking at him. "But you know what? I don't care. There are more important things I have to take care of and whether you help me or not, well, you see, that doesn't really matter. You can either follow me and help me sort things out, or you go back to your dear father and get killed for betraying Voldemort." Hermione turned and looked at him. "They didn't tell you that, did they?"
Draco didn't know what to say, but Hermione wasn't waiting for her answer, she simply set of walking again.
It took Draco some time until he could bring himself to go after her.
***
Ginny Weasley stared at Harry incredulously. "What do you mean with 'she is gone'?"
"She is gone, as in 'she's not here anymore.'" He answered and busied himself polishing the broomstick.
"She can't just be gone, Harry. What happened? I just found her." Ginny continued helplessly. "Harry?" Her voice was soft. She could sense that something was wrong. She watched him as he dabbed the cloth into the little pot of polish and applied it on the broom.
"Hermione isn't one of us anymore, Ginny." Harry stated dryly. "She is with Malfoy now. They are married."
"Harry, no, that's just ridiculous. Hermione would never…and Malfoy would never-"
"She chose her side and it isn't ours. Fine. She's probably been spying for them all the time, so now things might go a little smoother for us and for once we can gain the upper hand. Now, if you don't mind, I'm really busy." He said and gripped the broomstick even harder as he forcefully rubbed on a tiny little speck of dirt.
Ginny looked at him carefully. She had heard what he had said, but it didn't make sense to her. With a sigh, she turned and left. There was nothing she could do right now.
Harry kept polishing his broomstick. At least he still had his Firebolt, one of the few things that still reminded him of happier times in his life. Times, when he and Ron and Hermione had still been friends. If only Ron were here. He's gaze fell on the little pot he was repeatedly dipping the cloth in. It was the polish Hermione had gotten him for Christmas. Hermione. He carefully picked up the pot and examined it for second. Then, with all his might he threw it away and when it hit a tree somewhere in the distance, he could hear it shatter.
***
Finally he caught up with her and panting a little he managed to ask, "So, what's the plan then?"
A devilish smile tucked at Hermione's lips, but she did her best not to let him see it. She had won. For once, Draco Malfoy had given in and she got her way. Life wasn't that bad after all.
"Well, obviously Harry thinks that we're married and that I've been spying for Voldemort all the time. It's useless to try and explain things to him he just wouldn't listen. Hopefully, Voldemort and his supporters still think that we're dead…or at least that we have no idea what's going on so ever-"
"Uhm, would you mind giving me the shorter version?" Draco interrupted her.
Hermione furrowed her brow and shot him an annoyed glance, but continued nonetheless. "Well, we're going to hunt down Ron and then we'll see what Harry does once he knows the truth."
"That's it? That's your plan? To hunt down a pathetic WEASLEY?"
"Yep, that's the quintessence of it. It sounds easier then it is, though." Hermione said suppressing the urge to defend Ron. It still hurt to think about him.
"Well, if you say so. I can't really think of the problems involved catching Weasley." Hermione shrugged. "Well, we'll see."
