The Enemy Chapter 9
I entered my dormitory, trying not to make any noise as I slipped back under the unmade covers. I shuddered as I thought about how different my life had been a mere three hours ago.
Three hours ago, I had not been Lord Voldemort's heir. I had only thought about sneaking out to meet…well, Draco. Either way I looked at it, I was not the Hermione Granger I had once been. I was someone or something completely different.
I was too tired to think anymore. The minute my head hit the soft pillow I fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.
I awoke with a slight headache. "Are you okay?" Parvati asked me.
"I'm fine," I muttered. She looked taken aback. After all, the Hermione they knew…the Hermione of yesterday, the Hermione whose only claim to fame was as Harry Potter's close friend, the Hermione who studied her arse off for good grades and a good, respectable job…was not rude.
"Sorry," I continued, a little sheepishly.
"It's okay," she said quickly. "You've gotten up rather late though. Breakfast is in ten minutes."
Hurriedly I dressed and ran down to the Great Hall. Harry and Ron were heatedly discussing…
"Hermione!" Ron said, looking up as I approached the table.
"Blimey," Harry said, scowling. "How long does it take to get down here? We were going to ask you about the potions essay."
My heartbeat doubled. "Potions essay?" I whispered.
"Yeah, well we couldn't remember if it was on the side effects of a Wolfbane potion or the discovery of Wolfbane. Ron did his on side effects and I did mine on the discovery. Which one is it?"
I sat down, almost too weak to stand. It seemed as if ocean waves were roaring in my ears—a potions essay? How could I have forgotten? How could I have forgotten?
"I didn't do it," I said listlessly.
Ron laughed. "Stop joking," he snorted. "You could never not do your homework. Anyway, one of us is going to fail the assignment. Is it Harry or me?"
"I forgot we had an essay," I moaned. "Shit. Blasted little hei—"
All at once I choked on the roll of bread I had been chewing. I felt my face go red as I coughed and coughed, until I could no longer even sit; I was so weak that I felt my body slide onto the floor…and then all went black.
I woke up to someone fanning me. "Hermione?" a familiar voice whispered. My brain registered raven colored hair and glasses…
"Harry?" I whispered.
"Are you okay?" he asked. "You had a coughing fit or something and then you fainted."
My memory came flooding back to me. So that was what would happen if I ever tried to tell anybody. Fabulous. Good one, Voldemort, I thought angrily.
"I'm okay," I told him, scrambling off the floor. Almost everyone in the Great Hall was staring at me. I shifted my gaze over to the Slytherin table, and one very handsome looking Slytherin was staring at me with a gaze so intense I didn't even want to look back.
He was the only person in this entire bloody hall who knew what was going on.
The rest of the day passed in a blur; the only thing memorable about it was Snape deducting twenty points from Gryffindor because I didn't do my homework. I smiled at him. "Glad I could make your day, Professor," I said. After all, it wasn't every day that you could see Hermione Granger losing points on account of not doing her homework.
Afterwards, I went wearily to the library to finish off my homework, making sure that I did every single thing and extra, like I was accustomed to doing. However, my homework completion was hindered by a certain Draco Malfoy.
"Hey," he said, sitting down at the table.
"Hi," I said, without bothering to look up as I finished my Arithmancy. I did not notice that his mere presence kept me from concentrating; I was suddenly doodling instead of completing problems.
"Hermione, look at me."
I could not disobey that voice. I looked up at him, his silver eyes nearly glowing in the dim light of the library, and felt my heart beat a little bit faster.
Why did he always do that to me? Nobody had done that to me—I did not waste my time over boys!
"Yeah," I whispered.
"Listen. We need to talk. You understand that, don't you?"
"What do we need to talk about?" I snapped. Beautiful until he started speaking, I thought. Although it wasn't quite as bad anymore.
"Everything. I mean, it isn't everyday that someone is declared heir of Voldemort."
"Blasted man."
"I've been saying that for the last three years. Anyhow, what are you going to do about it?"
I was surprised. "Nothing, I guess."
"Nothing? Granger, what do you mean nothing?"
"Well, what can I do? I suppose I'll use it to my advantage. As soon as that old crackpot dies, the dark side will cease to exist."
"He isn't going to die for awhile," Draco said angrily. "You can't just sit there! You've got to take action!"
"Well then I'll help Harry."
"Honestly Hermione," Draco said, and I could tell he was fighting off a temper tantrum, "You are a smart witch. Does it take you this long to figure something out?"
"Figure what out?" I replied, getting a little irritated.
"Firehorn potion! It's going to start working on you any minute now and you're in the library and you're not even looking for ways to keep him from prying in your thoughts!" Draco exhaled the entire sentence in one breath.
I stared at him. He had a very good point. "Er…yeah."
"Get started!" he barked at me, and then handed me a pass to the restricted section.
"Where did you get this?" I asked.
He flashed me a small smile. "Snape," he said casually. "I do extra research every now and then. But not always what he thinks I'm doing."
"You are so bad."
"Did you just figure that out?" he said, smirking. "Anyway, get started."
"Are you going to help me?"
He stood there surprised, and I was a little astonished to see a flicker of concern on his face. "Okay," he replied, and pulled another pass out of his pocket.
"How many do you have?" I asked, surprised.
"Loads. You just have to figure out how to change the date. All it takes are a few spells you can pick up in the restricted section itself," he said, snickering.
After showing a very disapproving Madam Pince our passes, we walked into the restricted section.
"Where to begin?" Draco said under his breath, almost as if he was talking to himself.
Suddenly my forehead felt extraordinarily clammy.
A cold voice began to seep into my body, into my brain, and the words began to melt into my memory…
"Hermione," I heard the cold voice whisper. "Heiress of the Dark Lord…"
I dropped the book I was holding, and knelt to the ground, clutching my forehead in shock and fear.
A/N: Ok, hopefully everyone understood that Hermione was testing her limits when she fainted in the Great Hall thanks to Voldemort's curse. She is headstrong in my opinion; I always thought she would defy Voldemort and see for herself, being naturally curious.
Sorry guys, about the little cliffy! First off, I want to thank all my reviewers. This has been a depressing stage for me in my life, and I've battled a lot of sickness and depression. Reviews literally make my day. Although I haven't gotten that many, I value all my reviewers so much. Thank you. On another note, I'd really like some more reviews…my goal is maybe 85? Please? Hehe, anyway, expect an update in about 2 weeks…sorry…I'm going to be a little busy!