New reviewers (Mel62, Cniamac, Lilyflower-HP): Mel, thank you ever so much you made me grin like a Cheshire cat after that, but please do not deprive yourself of sleep. Cniamac you are letting Malfoy rather leniently, I think he knew exactly what he was doing and what state she was in. Liliyflower-HP thank you very much and I hope you keep reading.
Old Reviewers (Redaura, Shadow, PractikalMagik, Star): Star suffice to say I'm sure you've picked up its an English thing to revel in defeat, and I am continuing that habit. Snails when am I ever romantic? Please I'd expect you to know me better, but if you castrate Taz... well the consequences would be serious. Forg, pull yourself together young lady, and I am sure that she will think things that I have not the words to describe... except one. Fuck. Shady, I will endeavour to make them drunk again, for the last time I do not have an elephant.
In Betweenies (Wildchartermage, Haystack, Raine is Changing her Name, Sarkney, IrishSodaBread): You are the ones with the cool names. WildChartermage he's evil, he's teenage and she's willing. Answer your question? Haystack, I am a tease but a loveable one. Honest. I know a couple of others who update like us, but not much on the HP section. Different kind of writers for every section I guess. Raine is Crazy, well I would like to point out to Ron that they do have alcohol. I think I do sometime later I just doubt they call it alcohol. What else is a fire whisky? I'm sure your favourite characters were not doing nothing all night... I promise. Ron's more in this chapter but so are your other two favourites. Sarkney you compliment like a master. Irishsodabread I aim to please. I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much.
I got asked to join an RPG via review. Very nice of them to ask but the link was not working.
I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, and even read the story and not reviewing (*sniff*), because I've never really got this response to a story before. Brilliant to hear from you all even if it's old friends pointing out grammar mistakes, as well as new peeps telling me what they like. Thank you so much.
Chapter Eight
Blood, Sweat and Tears
Hermione arrived down at the Great Hall the following Sunday morning at nine o'clock. Her face held a tinge of pink and her movements were slow as still gripped by sleep. She was wearing the clothes from the night before. Harry and Ron were already eating when she arrived down, both boys holding their heads. They were the only Gryffindor 7th years downstairs. "Hermione." Ron greeted her with a hoarse slow voice.
She nodded to him before collapsing on the bench opposite him and Harry. Harry's eyes were bloodshot and he was rubbing his temples slowly but he was smiling a small smile. "How did you sleep?" Ron asked slowly nibbling his toast. Hermione froze but both boys were too dead to the world to notice. "Bet it was better than us. Guess where we slept? Slytherin Common room. I can't remember anything from 6pm onwards so I can't even remember how we got there. That alcopol stuff is strong."
Hermione looked at her plate not feeling hungry in the least. She nodded slowly and swallowed the lump in her throat. "Morning 7th years. You're the only ones up. Everyone else is still asleep though only Dean is in his bed." The boys exchanged glances and looked down at their plates. "So what did you have last night? Fred and George developed some new temporary insanity pill or something?"
Harry grimaced, her voice was amazingly high and chirpy. "No. We weren't that bad were we?" Ginny paused for a moment searching his face before bursting out laughing. Harry and Ron's faces fell and they sunk their heads to the table.
"You can't remember!" She bursts out before giggling some more. Hermione who was sitting next to her groaned. "Well I suppose you weren't." Ginny admonished. "Apart from when Harry tried to chat up the Fat Lady. Oh and Dean kept trying to 'return to his dorm' through the fireplace. Oh and Ron you kissing Harry." Both boys looked up to see if Ginny was laughing. She wasn't until she saw their faces. "You seriously don't remember? Oh Merlin, Ron. You said something about always fancying Lavender. And you seemed to think Harry was Lavender. And yeah, you kissed him. But don't worry Lavender thought it was hysterical. So did Harry and Hermione actually. All you did was stand there and laugh." She said to Harry as she buttered her toast.
"What about the Slytherins?" Harry asked slowly dreading the answer.
"What about them?" Ginny asked confused biting into her toast.
"When did we go to their Common room?" Ron asked looking down at the table.
"You went to the Slytherin's Common room?!?" Ginny exclaimed loudly. Oh dear, Harry thought and watched the entrance to the Great Hall for other 7th years who might remember. Harry looked up hopefully as Pavarti came into the Great Hall. She looked pale and a little sweaty. However when she caught sight of the food Pavarti turned and ran from the Great Hall, hand over mouth. Oh dear indeed.
"Have fun last night Potter?" Harry looked up to see Malfoy and a bunch of his cronies approaching the table. Harry banged his head on the table twice before looking up again. Dammit still there.
"What do you want Malfoy?" He answered rubbing his head.
"Just to see how you are, darling Potter. You seemed a little.. oh what's the word... drunk last night." The Slytherin King said smirking. Harry saw Lithliya enter the Hall out of the corner of his eye. His lip twitched with the urge to smile.
"And what is the problem with that Malfoy?" Lithliya was standing right beside Malfoy now. She was looking down at him with those eyes. Same eyes she'd said 'Goodnight' to him last night with... Oh why couldn't he remember?
"If you wouldn't mind looking at me for a moment instead of the head girl's breasts then maybe I'd tell you." Harry immediately changed his direction of looking, not that he'd been looking at her breasts anyway. Malfoy was not smirking now. "Getting drunk is illegal Potter. You should be-"
"Only under Muggle law, and as you say what is Muggle law to wizards Malfoy." Hermione said fast and she stood up and stormed passed him out Great Hall. Malfoy did not retract his gaze from the spot she had vanished from his vision for ten seconds.
"You should be more careful about what you do in future Potter." Malfoy finished off slowly and precisely. He then took Lithliya arm and walked her over to the Slytherin table, his cronies swaggering behind. Blaise was there waiting for him. He sat Lithliya down with force before starting on her. "What, exactly, did you do last night?" He asked with venom. Lithliya looked him dead in the eye.
"What after you chucked me out your bed so you could fuck that helplessly drunk girl?" She reprimanded him with half of his venom. They'd already been through this that morning. Draco had come down at nine to the common room and asked Lithliya, who had been staring into the fire to explain to him what exactly the Gryffindors had been suffering from. Lithliya had seen Hermione run passed her out the Slytherin common room a few minutes before Malfoy had come down.
Malfoy's face remained stoic. "I took care of them. What did you think I'd do? I dragged Weasley onto a setae and watched them for the rest of the night." She glared up at him.
"And this morning?" A flicker on her face. No matter what she answered next it would be a lie. Malfoy watched her. Daring her to tell him a lie.
"They were gone by seven." She had avoided the question. Well at least she hadn't dared to lie to him. "I didn't fuck him if that's what you're thinking." Zabini glanced up at Malfoy watching him. The rest of the Slytherins had mysteriously migrated far enough from the conversation not to hear it. Their migration might have been the picking up to angry vibes, it might have been Crabbe and Goyle staring at them until they moved. Draco moved to sit next to her.
"I think you are becoming too compassionate towards the Gryffindors. I think you'd do good to remember who your people are." He said whilst moving some of her hair that had fallen onto her face. He was speaking with a whisper. She replied in a whisper.
"So its okay for you to have a Gryffindor lover but not me." She looked steadily into his eyes and he smiled at her genuinely.
"Yes." He answered simply. She closed her eyes and looked at the ground. "Hush hush child." She was no where near tears but Draco was doing it anyway. His long fingers idly glided through her hair. "I am assured of having my image no matter who I date. My image will not change if I dated McGonagall, unlikely though it maybe." She smiled. "People will always assume I'm using her for sex and that my loyalty will always lie with Slytherin. But you who looks after those she fancies and is well known for having friends in Gryffindor as well as Slytherin might well be looked at as a Gryffindor-wannabe. You will not date Potter. I don't even want you going to the banquet with him." Both she and Draco knew that was not the real reason but it was the superficial reason and it was also her sentencing. No dating anyone outside of Slytherin.
Draco slipped his arm around her shoulders and turned to face Zabini. "Have you got confirmation yet?" Zabini nodded and looked up as the owls flew in. Malfoy's own Eagle owl and Lithliya's barn owl flew in together. A ditzy owl with a speckled coat dropped the Sunday Prophet on Zabini's plate, collected a few knuts and flew off again. Zabini laughed and threw the paper to Malfoy.
DEATH EATERS DARK ART MATERIALS FOUND!
This morning the Minister for Magic C. Fudge confirmed to the press that, on the information of an anonymous informer, yesterday evening Aurors working for the Ministry of Magic apprehended a treasure throve of Dark Magic books, objects, potion ingredients and other Dark Magic materials.
'This may only be the start of the war against erm, him, but it is a positive beginning to what we hope will be a final defeat of erm, him. We are sure that this is a great amount of provisions that will be sorely missed by... him and this will affect him greatly. With the kind of selflessness and bravery shown by this informer we can surely bring about the downfall of ... him shortly.' Fudge said this morning.
The materials were found in the Macnair mansion that was left to the ...
Malfoy laughed loudly joining in Zabini. Lithliya giggled. "'Selflessness and bravery'... Please tell me this wasn't you?" She said smirking. This made the two boys laugh louder. Malfoy chucked the paper down to the other end of the table for the younger years to see.
"Oh yes, my darling. In revenge for the attack of Dethcous. They got one warning, then we got revenge." Malfoy laughed again before standing up and stretching. "I feel like flying. You coming Zabini?" Zabini nodded. "What about you, Liya?" Draco asked smirking. She rose and followed them out the hall, all of them walking in the fashion of the Slytherin. All passed the day in merriment.
-*-
The girl pattered along the floor, her socks making little sound against the cold stone slabs. She clung her robe tight about her as she glanced back over her shoulder. The common room was not far now. She glanced over her shoulder again. Something was behind her she knew it. She stopped for a second, listening to the deadly night. The witching hour had passed but there was still a laughing menace to the air.
She heard two light footfalls from behind her. Then another two right beside her. This was not her overactive imagination this was real. She broke into a run. A maniacal laugh came from behind and faster stronger footsteps resounded in her ears. She screamed as her hand was grabbed but it was broken when fingers clamped her mouth down on her jaw, her eyes filling with tears as she looked at nothing visible.
"Look who it is..." The sneer came full of vengeance, full of hate. She gulped and the book she had been carrying dropped to the floor. It was kicked away.
"Myth and Fact; a guide to modern magic creatures" another voice read sneering. The girl was trembling, her hands, her eyes unable to keep still.
"You won't see the light of day if you hurt me!" She told them. A head suddenly appeared infront of her bobbing in the middle of nowhere.
"I always did prefer the night." The man she recognised as one of the Death Eaters who escaped Azkaban in 4th year. His invisible hand clamped on hers and he dragged her forwards. He threw the robe from round her and chucked his own to the floor. She tried to pull away from him. He pulled her back. She shrieked loudly in the direction of the common room. He smiled at her. He pushed her roughly into the wall. Her head snap loudly against it. He walked right up to her. She could smell the odours on his breath.
She felt the coldness of a hand touching her leg, trailing up her skirt. She screamed again. They just laughed. She closed her eyes as the hand reached it's target. Her mind went to her father. Her first memories. Her friends. Pain. Harry Potter, saviour of humanity. Not her saviour. Pain. Gryffindor winning a Quidditch match. Pain. But he'd finished.
"My turn." The gruff voice penetrated her thoughts and she moaned, sobbing. Her mother. Worse pain. Dumbledore giving the end of term speech. So much pain. Her first day of Hogwarts. She cried out. Tears were running down her face. Her father taking her round his office. Pain, pain, pain. It ended.
She had no energy to move. She heard them talking and laughing over her. She didn't hear the spell. It must have been put in the idle conversation at the end as an after thought. She felt it though. Pain up and down her spine, thousand of red-hot burning daggers diving into her body. She screamed with her voice broken. If there had been pain before this was inescapable. This was horrible. Everything in her worst nightmares could not compare to this.
It went on. Her mind grasped at her memories of happy times but she could not get them. They just kept escaping her by this little bit. By thirty seconds she could no longer think of what she was reaching for only that it would be relief from this pain. By sixty seconds there was no longer thoughts left. Just pain. So much pain.
-*-
The Gryffindor Quidditch team headed down to breakfast early. It was a Monday morning and head of Quidditch Ron thought it would be an ideal time for practice. What he had not counted on was still being hungover from two nights before and that it was first thing on a Monday morning. Nevertheless he was taking it bravely striding ahead of the team, trying not to let his mind fall back into sleep.
Harry was trailing at the back wondering how long it would take before the team revolted against this practice. None of them were properly awake. Ginny was walking behind her brother trying to make it look as if someone supported this practice. She walked straight into him.
Ron's eyes were wide as he looked back at Harry. "Go, all of you. Go back to the common room. NOW!" There was confused mutterings and trying to see past Ron. Ginny, being closest was the one who was able to. She screamed. She made to run past her brother but he stopped her.
"Go back to the common room NOW." Harry thundered and all the Quidditch players ran back. He closed his eyes and looked deep into Ron's eyes. "How bad?" He asked in a throaty voice. Ron shook his head and brought his sister back in front of him. He had no words to comfort her. She was hysterically screaming and crying.
Harry walked up to Ron and looked past him. There was a ripped and slightly bloody blouse discarded on the floor. A skirt appeared a couple of feet away, clean apart from some dust. Harry's gaze quickly moved from the next clothing they landed on; girl's ripped underwear. He already had a sick feeling in his stomach. He did not look at the girl. Not yet. "Ginny. Go to Madame Pomfrey. Now. Tell her... Tell her what's happened. Go on now. There's nothing you can do here."
Harry saw Ginny run down the corridor at top speed. "Should we let her go on her own?" Ron asked quietly.
"They won't attack now. Not so soon. Not with people beginning to move about." Harry answered closing his eyes and turning back to the scene. When he opened them for the first time he properly looked at the girl. She was only wearing one article of clothing. A sock. At one stage in it's life it had evidently been white but now it was closer to a filthy brown with red spots. For the rest part she was completely naked.
She was humming to herself, playing with a strand of her hair, which was matted. The tune was not distinguishable and her chattering teeth muffled it. It was doubtful her body shaking was much to do with the cold. Her eyes, what could be seen of them from under her hair, were bloodshot.
Ron edged forwards going down on his knees. "Hello?" He said stupidly and looked back up at Harry hoping he was better at this type of thing. Harry looked sickened and his gaze was not leaving the girls. Ron looked back at the girl. He suddenly realised why Harry had looked that sickened. "Oh my goodness. Harry I think it's Luna." It was only then that he read the words in blood behind the girl's head. 'Now she really is Loony'
"Ronald?" She was looking up at him. Her eyes were wide and her mouth open. She was still shaking violently. "Ronald?" She asked again. Her hand came up and stroked the side of his face, she smiled up at him before collapsing back into a fit of shivering.
Ron impersonated a fish for a moment whilst he took in what had happened. Harry reacted sooner taking his robes from round his shoulders and covering the girl with them. Ron pulled himself together from his state of abhorrence. "Let's take her to Madame Pomfrey." He said sweeping the girl up in his arms. She moaned when he moved her but soon settled. He swallowed every time he moved her trying to think that it was him putting her in this pain but soon finding his thoughts returned to what she must have been through the night before.
Hermione joined them halfway through their journey. She had run into a hysterical Ginny and was just coming to find them to see if she could help. She was more of a hindrance. Ginny had been to hysterical to tell her what happened. She was unprepared for the weak shivering girl she saw in Ron's arms.
Harry dashed forward as Hermione's knees buckled beneath her. He reached underneath her far arm pulling her back up to him. Ron grimaced to him and continued walking passed taking the moaning and shaking Luna to the Hospital Wing. Harry nodded as he passed and looked down at Hermione. Hermione was looking over to where Luna had been when Hermione had first come across them. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was letting out short sharp breaths. She was clasping so hard onto Harry that he was sure there would be bruises there the next day.
"Hermione, Hermione look at me." He said in a calm collected voice. Hermione looked at him and the shock slowly receded from her eyes. Sorrow took over and Hermione let out gulps of air, tears wetting the front of his robes. Harry put his arms around her as gently as he could and stroked her back, his mind going through the various things he would do to the Death Eater's should he catch them. Her sobs lessened. "Hermione, we have to go tell Dumbledore." And get the mess in the corridor cordoned off, though he was loathe to pass that corridor again let alone expose Hermione to it.
Hermione nodded and she wiped her eyes looking up at him with what she thought was a brave face. Luna, someone they knew. Someone so close to Ginny, no wonder the girl had been hysterical. Hermione sniffed and walked slowly with Harry towards Dumbledore's office. Harry stopped at a turning and placed her near a wall. She looked at him confusedly but he just said "Trust me". And she did. He stood on the other side of the turning and she heard him say various enchantments.
When he signalled that it was okay to carry on down another separate corridor that led to Dumbledore's office she peered closely at the corridor he'd been working enchantments on. There was the words 'No Entry' with a normal corridor behind, a mirror image of the corridor they were about to take. Hermione guessed what was really behind that corridor. "Come on." Harry said to her taking her arm. It was quarter past seven in the morning.
They arrived at the office, the staircase already formed as if Dumbledore already knew to expect them. He probably did. They walked up them with trepidation. When at the head of the stairs they saw Dumbledore in his chair looking older than they had ever seen him before. "Professor?" Hermione started forward, breaking away from Harry. Dumbledore looked up giving them a grave smile.
"I am sorry, Hermione, Harry. I have let the school down." Both were about to interrupt but Dumbledore waved them silent. "I will not resign, do not fear. But these Death Eaters I cannot rid the school of them. And now. Such a tragedy. Such pain for a young mind to take, such a promising one too. I hope that her attachment to Mr Weasley will help her pull back her ... sense."
"Attachment to Mr Weasley?" Harry echoed curiously. He remembered her looking up at Ron and stroking his face. Dumbledore just smiled at Harry. "What can we do?" Harry asked after realising Dumbledore would not answer.
"We must fight them. You will have to do some morale cheering. I suggest that you and Mr Malfoy announce to the school what has occurred," Harry winced, "and I suggest that you attempt to raise spirits. Mr Malfoy as you have seen is quite good at that." Harry sighed and looked at a random portrait over Hermione's head.
"Miss Granger if you will go and awake Mr Malfoy. Tell him he needs to make a speech with Mr Potter and tell him of what has occurred. Harry if you would be so kind as to go out to the Quidditch pitch, Miss Dremae is there and will also need to be told." Harry and Hermione nodded and rose. Dumbledore sat forward in his chair. "It is curious how often love and hate can cause a bond stronger than any other. Good day Miss Granger, Mr Potter."
-*-
Well that's it for now folkies.....
Tune in next time to find out: if the serpent unleashes its fangs on those who dare to wake them, if Harry and Draco manage to make a speech, if Luna is going to permanently insane, if the Death Eaters strike again?