Chapter five

(I like this chappie! It's long though… about 7 or 8 pages I think… Enjoy!)

At breakfast the next morning Harry noticed that Hermione was still disturbed.  She was poking her pancakes with her fork and her mind seemed distant.  Harry knew that it would be better to just leave her.

"I'm worried about her.  If it turns out that he is dead… what will happen to Hermione? She'll crumble!" Harry whispered to Ron.

"I'm concerned for her too but I'm thinking about… you know… if he has managed to get Malfoy, then what's stopping him coming back to get us?" Ron looked fearfully up at Harry.

Harry stayed silent.  Ron was right, they were in sever danger but he didn't want to say anything that would scare Ron so he was thankful when there was a bit of an interruption.  Until it dawned on him what was going on.

Madam Pomfrey was hurrying up the hall calling Dumbledore.  Dumbledore stood up hastily.

"What has happened?" he asked.

Madam Pomfrey waited until she was level with Dumbledore before telling him.  Once she had finished explaining, Dumbledore excused himself from breakfast and rushed off with Madam Pomfrey right behind.

Harry and Ron looked at each other and then both focused their attention on Hermione.  She was staring after the two adults and then she threw down her fork and chased after them.

"Hermione! Get back here!" Ron called.

Harry stood up and ran out after Hermione.  "Harry?" Ron moaned.

All of the students that had noticed stared at him.  Ginny moved so she could sit next to her brother.

"What's going on? And don't use the, 'You're too young to understand' thing again!" she added glaring at him.

"Hermione's just gone insane, nothing to worry about."

"Tell me what's going on, Ronald!"

"You wouldn't understand!"

"I told you not to use that excuse!"

"It wasn't the 'You're too young' one though was it?"

"Please, just tell me," she begged.

"Hermione might tell you later.  Unless she takes a fit before that…"

Ginny eyed him strangely before getting up and sitting with her friends again.

*~*~*~*

"How did this happen?" Dumbledore asked as soon as he walked into the hospital wing.

"I-I don't know Professor! I just walked in this morning to check him like I said I would and he was… gone!" Madam Pomfrey replied in a hurried way.

"Someone would've seen him.  The ghosts patrol the corridors to all hours of the night.  At least we know he's alive anyway, that's one up side."

"T-the window was open when I came in," she told him in hope that that helped in some way.

"I don't think he jumped out the window.  Unless he really does have a death wish!" Dumbledore pointed out.

"What's going on? Is Draco OK?" Hermione's voice asked shrilly from outside.

Dumbledore turned round and saw Hermione standing in the doorway with Harry standing behind her.

"This is really beginning to annoy me now Miss Granger but young Malfoy seems to have gone walkies on us!"

Hermione frowned.  "Gone? What do you mean gone? He wasn't exactly in a position to get up and just walk out last time I saw him!"

"I don't know how this could've happened.  This sort of thing only happens when-" Dumbledore broke off and stared as a thought occurred to him.

Hermione waited for a few seconds then prompted him, "When…?"

"Excuse me for a moment, I have to go look something up.  You two, go to class now, I'll see you both at dinner."  At that, he walked out.  Harry and Hermione stared at each other quizzically.

"You heard him.  Get to class, go on, the bell's going to go any minute!" Madam Pomfrey shooed them out.

*~*~*~*

"Gone?" Ron repeated for the one hundredth time as they sat down in the great hall for their dinner after their classes.  "How is he gone? Corpses don't just get up and walk away!"

"Ron, don't be gross!" Hermione replied.

"Yeah Ron, I'm trying to eat here!" Harry swallowed a piece of his steak with a disgusted look on his face.  "If he had just walked away, they would've found him by now anyway."

"He could be anywhere.  He could've wakened up and got frightened and ran off to hide somewhere.  What if he's scared now? In a lonely, dark room wanting some comforting…" Hermione's eyes watered at the thought.

"Typical of a woman to think that! Hermione, zombies don't have feelings…" Ron shook his head.

"Zombie? Ron, he probably wasn't dead in the first place.  He's not a zombie!" Hermione snapped back.

"Well, if a zombie that looks like Draco Malfoy comes and gets me in the middle of the night then I'll blame you!" Ron pointed his sausage on the end of his fork at her then took a huge bite out of it.

"Is Malfoy dead?" a voice piped up from behind them.

All three turned round to see a terrified looking Ginny standing behind them.

"'inny! Wha' a' 'ou 'oin' 'ere?" Ron asked with his mouth full of sausage, bits of half chewed sausage spat out as he spoke.

"Someone please translate that!" Harry looked at Ron.

 "He's asking what I'm doing here.  I'm here to get my dinner Ron and I'd appreciate it if you keep yours to yourself, I can get my own sausages thanks!" Ginny flicked off a bit of sausage from her shoulder with a wrinkled nose.

Ron swallowed.  "You shouldn't have been listening to us!"

"It's very hard not to over hear when you are talking about zombies! It kind of attracts people's attention."

"Ron's just being stupid!" Hermione told her before taking a drink.

"You didn't answer my question."  Ginny sighed.

"That's because, number one, you shouldn't know about it and number two, we don't know the answer to that either," Harry explained.

"Yes, we do! He's as dead as Hagrid's giant Venus fly trap!" Ron looked over at Harry.

Ginny was about to comment when Hermione cut in first.  "He can't be dead Ron! You saw the way he reacted to Dumbledore's touch yesterday!"

Ginny tried to cut in again but again someone got there first.  "Hermione, did you see that thing on his neck? If he's still alive after that one, I'll… I'll… eat my Transfiguration book!" Ron said pointing to his school bag.

"HELLO?! LISTEN TO ME!" Ginny yelled before anyone else got say anything.  Everyone stopped and looked up at Ginny.  "Now that I've finally got your attention, I'd like to ask you what the hell is going on!"

"Listen to us Ginny.  We don't know.  Hagrid found Draco lying in the forest and we thought he was dead but now he has disappeared from where we left him.  So now we don't know." Harry stood up.

Ginny's eyes widened.  "My God, what happened? How could someone die here? This is one of the safest places in the wizard world!" She began to panic.

Hermione and Ron stood up and all four of them began to walk out of the Great Hall.

"I know.  We think it was-" Hermione broke off when she saw a familiar face poke out of the door that lead to the dungeons, his hair lit up by the sunlight hitting his head. 

"Draco?" she called in a confused yet excited voice.

At hearing his name, Draco closed his eyes tight before he dodged back into the dungeon corridor.

"Draco, wait, come back!" Hermione shouted as she ran in after him.

Harry, Ron and Ginny stared.  Ron turned round and went back into the Great Hall.

"Where are you going?" Ginny asked.

"Going to get my Transfiguration book.  Wonder if it tastes better with ketchup or brown sauce?"

*~*~*~*

Hermione ran through the torch-lit corridor to try and catch up with Draco, but he was too quick.  The only way she knew where he was turning was the sound of his footsteps or the sight of his cloak after he turned a corner.

"Draco!" she called near out of breath, "Please, come back! What the bloody hell is wrong with you boy?"

Hermione turned around a corner and saw a long corridor in front of her, but no Draco.  The corridor was lit only by a few torches so it was a bit dark but Hermione could see down the middle of the corridor clearly until the end, no sign of life. She stopped and caught her breath as she leaned against the stone wall.  Did I just imagine it? Do I want him to be back so bad that I imagined him being there? She asked herself.  No.  No, Harry, Ron and Ginny saw him too… where is he then? Was it a ghost? Possibly.  A zombie? Oh God, now I'm just being as stupid as Ron!

"Hermione!"

Hermione screamed slightly as she was snapped out of her thoughts by a chorus of voices calling her.  She turned around to see Harry and Ginny coming around the corner.

"Where is he?" Ginny asked looking around the dark corridor.

"Gone," Hermione replied shortly.  "I think we imagined it…"

"Not a chance! Since when have we all imagined something at the same time? It was him!" Harry argued.

"Stop trying to kid yourself Harry.  It might've been a sign… telling us that he's gone and never coming back…"

"Hermione! Stop it!" Harry snapped.  "You're just upsetting yourself further.  I know what I saw and what I saw was Malfoy!"

"Harry's right, Hermione," Ginny backed him up.

Hermione didn't know why but she really did have a bad feeling about this Draco that she saw.  She couldn't tell why but what she had just said seemed to be the only logical answer.  Draco was dead.  Hermione was going to say so but thought that she'd better not.  Harry and Ginny will just think she's gone completely off her head.

"Hey guys! I came back out of the Great Hall and you had gone! I came down here thinking you'd followed Hermione and for once I was right!" Ron grinned.  "What?" They were all looking at him darkly.

"It wasn't Draco… we must've imagined it.  People don't just disappear into thin air." Hermione sighed.

"Ron… knock some sense into her!" Harry looked up at his best friend.

"Imagined it? Why would I imagine seeing Malfoy standing in a doorway?"

"I rest my case Hermione!" Harry grinned.

"There's something wrong… something's not right at all!" Hermione shook her head.

"Yeah, it's your head!" Ron took her by the hand.  "Now come on, lets go get you a nice cup of tea, OK?" he led her off closely followed by Harry and Ginny.

"Something is definitely not right! I felt it when I was chasing him! Don't you feel it?" she asked anxiously.

"The only thing I feel is concern for your sanity, girl! Now come on, a cup of tea and a good nap will set everything right!" Ron replied.

Harry felt a chill and a shiver ran up and down his spine.  He stopped and turned round but saw nothing but the lonely, dark corridor.  He had the feeling he was being watched… being watched by something beyond evil.  He walked back wards a few steps to watch the corridor in case anything jumped out at him before he turned the corner to walk back to the Gryffindor common room with his friends.

When they were gone, Draco stepped out from the darkness like a shadow and stood staring at the corner even though they were long gone.  His dark eyes narrowed and he turned swiftly around on his heels, and began walking briskly down the semi-lit corridor.  He would deal with her later.

*~*~*~*

"There is nothing wrong with me!" Hermione argued sitting up on the sofa.

"It'll do you good to have a rest anyway! You've been through a lot lately," Harry sat down beside her.

"Listen, we'll get you a hot cup of tea and you can relax, OK? You seem a little… tense," Ginny said summoning a cup for Hermione's tea.

"I am not a child! I do not need your mothering!" Hermione carried on arguing her case.  "I feel fine now! I just-"

"Went totally nutters!" Ron finished for her.

"I know you all think I'm nuts but you didn't feel what I did!"

Harry fidgeted slightly but said nothing.

"Trust us! A nice shut eye can help!" Ginny handed her a cup of tea.

"Better accept it Hermione! We will never do this again!" Ron folded his arms and shook his head.

Hermione thanked Ginny and walked up to her dormitory.  The fire was already lit and the room was at a nice heat.  She took a sip of tea and lay down on her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.  Hermione thought it would be better not to think too much about Draco but she was scared.  She lay awake for a while longer before the heat and worry got to her.

*~*~*~*

Hermione laughed from the stands as she watched the two boys flying around the stadium on their broomsticks.  Harry flew in loops the whole way across the pitch while Draco stood on his broomstick like a skateboard.  It was a warm day, the sun was shinning and Hermione was enjoying herself watching her two friends show off to her.

"Hey, Hermione! Check this out!" Draco yelled to her as he did a handstand on his broomstick.  Hermione clapped and then laughed as Draco crashed into the stands.

Draco fell down under the cover of the Ravenclaw eagle and his head poked out a second later.

"I'm… OK!" he called, reaching inside the cover for his broomstick.

Harry hovered above him.  "You're an idiot, Malfoy!"

"You die now for that one Potter!" Draco laughed mounting his broomstick and chasing Harry around the stadium.

Hermione couldn't stop laughing and smiling, it seemed her good mood couldn't be broken.  She watched as Draco chased Harry higher into the sky until Harry swiftly changed to a spectacular dive.  Draco seemed confused for a moment but Harry's actions sunk in a split second later and he turned to follow.  Hermione knew what Harry was up to.  The Wronski Feint.  She watched with great interest.

Harry had nearly reached the ground with Draco right on his tail when something long and black like a shadow flew across the pitch.  It covered itself around Draco and dragged him off his broom, as soon as Draco was off, it disappeared.  Draco hit the ground with a crack that could be heard around all around the stadium.  He tumbled a few times before stopping and lying completely still.

Hermione screamed, "DRACO!" before she ran at top speed down from the stands and onto the pitch. 

Everything had changed dramatically when she came out onto the pitch.  It was now very cold and very dark like a clear, moonless night.  She ran over to where Draco was lying on the ground and collapsed beside him.  She lifted his head up and saw that the right side of his face and neck was totally covered in blood.  She began to panic.

"HARRY?" she called for her best friend in hope that he would help, but Harry had gone.  They were alone in the cold, dark stadium.

Hermione looked back down at Draco.  Draco's eyes flew open and he began to breathe heavily.

"Draco… it's OK… everything's-" she began but Draco's strained voice stopped her.

"H-help me… p-please… you g-gotta help m-me…" his choked.

"Draco… what's wrong? Why do you need my help?" Hermione's mouth went dry.

"T-trapped… eternity… n-no way out… i-it's g-gone… I'm l-lost…help me!"

"Draco? What?"

Draco didn't answer her.  Instead he pulled her forwards so her face was so close to his, she thought that he was going to kiss her, but he didn't.  He just whispered, "Don't look into its eyes! Dangerous… horrible death… don't!"

Hermione was getting more afraid and confused.  "Draco, I don't understand.  What's going on?"

"PROMISE ME!" Draco yelled taking Hermione by surprise.  She looked around her in hope that she'd find someone to help her but the stadium was still lifeless.  When she looked back down, Draco was gone too.  Hermione stood up and found that she was shaking with fear and her head buzzed with confusion.  She finally heard footsteps behind her and turned gratefully around.

Draco was standing behind her, but there was something different about him.  There was a colder feeling around him, an air of pure evil, his face was deathly pale and his eyes were dark like deep oceans… deep enough to drown in. 

"Hello Hermione," he said to her as he walked closer.

There was something about his voice, the way he walked and that smile… there was something very wrong about it.  A feeling inside her told her to run, and she did.  She ran away from him without looking back and she didn't stop until she reached the Entrance Hall.  She leaned against the wall to catch her breath and closed her eyes.

Hermione took a deep breath and opened her eyes.  Draco was sitting on the stairs, not looking tired at all.  He grinned at her.

"You should know better.  You can't run from me," he shook his head as he walked towards her again.  Each step seemed like he was gliding, barely touching the ground.  He stopped when he was standing right in front of her, dark eyes shinning with malice.

"Watch me!" Hermione hissed before she dodged off to the right and ran up the main staircase.  When she reached the door to the Gryffindor tower she stopped and looked behind her.  Draco hadn't followed her.  She turned back round to go through the door and Draco was standing right in front of her, their noses nearly touching he was that close.

Draco pushed her backwards and swung her round into the stone wall with a force that made Hermione feel dizzy and see stars in front of her for a few seconds.  She began to fight against his grip but with no success.

"Get off me!" she cried.  "HARRY? RON? HELP!"

Draco laughed softly.  "They can't help you.  No one can hear you."

Hermione swallowed her fear and confusion.  What was he going to do to her? "What the hell are you playing at?"  She glared at him, their eyes meeting, then everything was okay.  She felt calmer and safer.

"You're so paranoid aren't you? Chill," he whispered rubbing her shoulders.

Hermione relaxed at his soothing touch and voice.  Why was she so scared to begin with anyway? It was just Draco.

Draco leaned forward and kissed her.  At first Hermione felt good but soon, there was that bad feeling again and something rose in her throat.  She snapped back and tried to fight Draco off but couldn't.  She felt whatever was in her throat rise and she began to choke just before she found out what it was that was making her choke.  Blood.

Blood was rising in her throat and making her choke.  She felt the blood fall down the sides of her mouth and down her neck.  She could taste that horrible metallic taste of it in her mouth.  She felt like she was dying and wanted more than anything for it to stop but blood still came up her throat and out of her mouth as Draco kissed her.  She tried to pull away but Draco had a good grip on her and when she tried to turn away, he held her head.  The blood covered his hands.

Finally he pulled away.  Hermione felt the blood stop and she began gasping for breath, she felt like she was going to faint any second but Draco held her up with blood covered hands.

"You find out… and you will join me…" he whispered.

Hermione fainted.

*~*~*~*

Hermione jumped and sat up on her bed.  She was breathing heavily and her eyes were wide with fear.  She turned and looked at her alarm clock which was flashing '02:19'.

Just a dream Hermione thought thankfully.  She didn't believe in dreams meaning things, that's one reason why she had dropped Divination, it all seemed so stupid.  It was just a nightmare and she'd had it because of what she was thinking about earlier.

Hermione sighed and swallowed.  As soon as she did, she panicked.  She could taste blood in her mouth.  She licked her lips nervously and still tasted blood.  Her heart began to race as she took one more test.  She touched the side of her face and neck and looked at her hand.  Thin red blood trickled over her fingers.

Hermione screamed.

(OK, this chapter went on a bit more than expected so the part that was supposed to be the end of this chapter will be the end of the next chapter instead.  What do u all think then? Please R/R! I actually did research for this! The whole kissing and blood thing… the kiss of death! PLEASE R/R!!!!!)