Disclaimer: The characters in this story (except Julius) and the universe in which they exist belong to JK Rowling. I am just having fun.
Chapter 22 - Heartbreak and Horror
The fourth day after Malfoy sent his owl dawned crisp and clear with only a few high clouds marring the morning sky, the pure white snow blanketing the sleepy world below giving a false impression of peace and tranquillity. Julius, however, had barely slept at all, and softly cursed as the pink and orange hues of daybreak gradually lightened the absolute blackness of the dorm room into a thousand shades of grey.
He turned over onto his right side, clenching his eyes shut against the advancing light of day, silently wishing he had remembered to pull the drapes about his bed but too lazy to expend the energy to do so at the present. Nightmares had plagued the few restless hours of sleep he was able to achieve, filling them with dark, shadowy images of torture and screams at the hands of a man whose face he could not see, and just as he was about to fall once again into the realm of slumber, Michael Corner's alarm clock went off with a loud buzz.
All five boys now groaned as Corner's arm lashed out in the direction of the clock, trying desperately to find the snooze button. On the fifth attempt he finally succeeded in silencing the annoying sound, but it was too late for Julius to lapse back into sleep as four boys began to rustle around the dorm room, changing into their clothes for breakfast.
Julius grumbled testily, reaching for his pillow and placing it over his head, smothering himself in an attempt to drown out the clunking trunk lids and talking going on around him. Someone passed by and nudged his prone form, and a voice infiltrated his pillow muffler telling him to get up, there were Quidditch plays to go over before the game. Bradley, he thought with a frown, was he ever going to let it rest?
When Julius finally made it down to the Great Hall (and he was still so tired he couldn't even remember half the journey there), most of the Ravenclaw students had already finished their breakfast, and were talking animatedly about the upcoming hours against Slytherin. Bradley was in a hurry to get his team down to the pitch, and gave Julius a meaningful look as the dark-haired boy sat down at the table.
"Hope you plan on waking up before game time, DeVere. We can't afford to lose this one," he said, as the others looked over the boy's bedraggled state, whispering amongst themselves.
"Yeah, no problem, Bradley," Julius replied with a yawn. "After going over all those plays in the hall, in the common room, in the courtyard and in the loo, we should be able to beat Slytherin in our sleep."
Bradley frowned slightly and continued his pep speech to those gathered around him paying no further attention to the late-comer.
Julius had just speared a piece of cold toast with the end of his fork when a set of hands placed themselves over his eyes, blinding him. He paused for a moment, and leaving the fork standing up in the slice of bread, lifted his hands to cover the ones covering his eyes, grasping them softly as he drew them away from his face.
He sighed softly, dreading this moment. He had been up half the night battling with his heart, knowing he cared too much about Hermione to drag her into this whole sordid affair with the Dark Lord. Turning in his seat, he gave the girl standing before him a half smile, "Hello, Hermione."
"Morning, Julius," she replied with that smile she shared only with him. "Ready to give Slytherin hell?"
"Yeah," he answered quietly, his eyes looking down at the hands he was holding warmly in his own. It was now or never, he thought to himself as he slowly stood, casting a cheerless, swarthy gaze up into her beautiful eyes.
"Julius," Hermione began, her brows furrowing in concern, "is something wrong?"
"Hermione," he replied softly, rising slowly from his seat at the table, "could I talk to you out in the hall?"
"Sure," she answered shakily, her breakfast suddenly churning within her stomach, making her nauseous.
Julius led the Gryffindor into the large foyer outside the Great Hall, his eyes remaining upon the floor tiles ahead of him, and paused before the same windows where Professor Snape had stood on the day he gave permission for the use of the Potions classroom. Slowly, he lifted his dark eyes to look with a deep remorsefulness upon the girl he loved standing before him.
Bradley was just beginning to gather his troops a few minutes later when Julius re-entered the Hall and brushed by him, pausing only long enough to say, "I'll meet you guys down at the pitch." Without a single glance back he strode to the rear of the hall and disappeared out a doorway, taking a less travelled route to the stadium.
"Glad to see you finally have your priorities sorted out," Bradley called to him before he vanished from sight. Turning back to his team-mates, he caught a brief glimpse of Hermione Granger entering the Hall with tear-strained eyes, moving towards the Gryffindor table.
Julius was half-way to the pitch, his face set in an expression of misery, when he heard footsteps rapidly approaching behind him. A moment later, a hand grasped his shoulder, spinning him around unexpectedly.
"What did you say to her?" Ron asked heatedly, his ears turning a definite shade of red as he stood before Julius, brown eyes darkening.
"Ron," Julius began depressedly, "Now is really not a good time." He kept his eyes upon the ground, unable to look at anyone, and turned to continue on his way.
"Don't walk away," Ron replied, grasping Julius's arm, causing the boy to turn to glance at him, dark eyes smouldering. "Hermione is in the Hall crying her eyes out ," he said, pointing back towards the castle, "and she won't tell us what happened. Now I saw you take her out into the foyer and I want to know what you said to her!"
Julius considered the boy before him, couldn't he see how much he was hurting, having to tell someone he cared about that he couldn't see her anymore? "This is between Hermione and me, Ron. I'm sorry."
"No, this is between you and me, DeVere," Ron returned, frowning deeply. "You know, I thought you were a really great guy, and I was happy for Hermione, glad she found someone who made her smile. But now I think a part of me is glad that you are out of the picture, cause you obviously don't deserve her. Go on, go down to your Quidditch pitch, as that is apparently more important to you than your friends. Just wonder if you will still feel that way when you find you don't have any friends left." And with that, Ron Weasley turned his back upon the Ravenclaw and made his way purposefully back towards the castle without looking back.
Julius watched him go, his heart feeling heavier than it had ever felt in his life. He had not wanted to hurt Hermione, only to protect her from what dangers could come. Everything was happening so fast, there were so many unknowns in his life right now.
Professor Dumbledore made his way quietly through the stands, finding a seat next to the dark-clad potions master, slowly lowering his aging frame onto the bench. When he was settled, he asked, "How did it go with Julius?"
"As well as it could go, Headmaster," Snape returned, and then suddenly stood with a monstrous frown, yelling at one of the Slytherin replacement Beaters as he hit one of the balls out of the stadium, "That's the Quaffle, not a Bludger you dunderhead!"
"Interesting playing strategies your team has, Severus," Dumbledore chuckled. "Where are Mr. Malfoy and his friends? Ah, yes, there they are down below."
Draco Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were sitting in the lower stands as they were still banned from playing, the two toadies moaning and screaming at the copious mistakes being made by the stand-ins. Draco was sitting dejectedly with his arms crossed, a frown upon his face as he watched the game in sullen silence, wishing Julius DeVere would pass by a little closer so he could kick his broom out from under him. It was all his fault, Malfoy thought, fuming, if Slytherin lost this game.
The new broomstick had definitely made a difference in the boy's game. He was much more easily able to swoop in a steal the Quaffle from one of the Slytherin Chasers or dodge a Bludger. On the outside, Severus Snape groaned with each pass of the Quaffle through the Slytherin hoops, but inwardly, he couldn't help but feel proud one particular Ravenclaw Chaser.
The game ended within three hours with Ravenclaw claiming the win, and Bradley and Julius were carried high on the shoulders of their house-mates towards the castle. Julius however, glancing about, felt the win to be empty without his Gryffindor friends to share it with. Apparently, they hadn't even come to the game, staying instead with Hermione in the Gryffindor common room.
Julius's heart ached as he thought of Harry and Ron drying Hermione's tears themselves. Missing her tender hugs and warm sunny smiles already. When the Ravenclaw students finally lowered him to the floor of the common room, they were quite surprised when he climbed the stairs to his dorm and did not come down the rest of the night.
Snape found it hard to hide his smile as he watched his son being carried in victory, and that vision stayed with him as he made his way down into the cool dark dungeons towards his office. Once in those quiet halls, he was able to openly grin, but it was soon wiped away as he neared the door to the Potions area. The potions master stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes took in the tall, slender figure of a man with long blond hair leaning against the wall just outside the office door, inspecting his fingernails.
Noting the sudden cease of echoing footsteps, Lucius Malfoy turned his head, and offered a too friendly smile full of hidden malice as he straightened, standing before the potion's professor. "Ah, Severus. I see you have remembered your wards this time."
A/N: Now THIS is a cliff-hanger! You know I just HAD to do it. : )
Perhaps I should have warned you all in the very beginning that I am a bit of a sadist. I love torturing my readers. Muhahahahaha!
But don't worry, this is the last cliff-hanger…I promise.
Chapter 22 - Heartbreak and Horror
The fourth day after Malfoy sent his owl dawned crisp and clear with only a few high clouds marring the morning sky, the pure white snow blanketing the sleepy world below giving a false impression of peace and tranquillity. Julius, however, had barely slept at all, and softly cursed as the pink and orange hues of daybreak gradually lightened the absolute blackness of the dorm room into a thousand shades of grey.
He turned over onto his right side, clenching his eyes shut against the advancing light of day, silently wishing he had remembered to pull the drapes about his bed but too lazy to expend the energy to do so at the present. Nightmares had plagued the few restless hours of sleep he was able to achieve, filling them with dark, shadowy images of torture and screams at the hands of a man whose face he could not see, and just as he was about to fall once again into the realm of slumber, Michael Corner's alarm clock went off with a loud buzz.
All five boys now groaned as Corner's arm lashed out in the direction of the clock, trying desperately to find the snooze button. On the fifth attempt he finally succeeded in silencing the annoying sound, but it was too late for Julius to lapse back into sleep as four boys began to rustle around the dorm room, changing into their clothes for breakfast.
Julius grumbled testily, reaching for his pillow and placing it over his head, smothering himself in an attempt to drown out the clunking trunk lids and talking going on around him. Someone passed by and nudged his prone form, and a voice infiltrated his pillow muffler telling him to get up, there were Quidditch plays to go over before the game. Bradley, he thought with a frown, was he ever going to let it rest?
When Julius finally made it down to the Great Hall (and he was still so tired he couldn't even remember half the journey there), most of the Ravenclaw students had already finished their breakfast, and were talking animatedly about the upcoming hours against Slytherin. Bradley was in a hurry to get his team down to the pitch, and gave Julius a meaningful look as the dark-haired boy sat down at the table.
"Hope you plan on waking up before game time, DeVere. We can't afford to lose this one," he said, as the others looked over the boy's bedraggled state, whispering amongst themselves.
"Yeah, no problem, Bradley," Julius replied with a yawn. "After going over all those plays in the hall, in the common room, in the courtyard and in the loo, we should be able to beat Slytherin in our sleep."
Bradley frowned slightly and continued his pep speech to those gathered around him paying no further attention to the late-comer.
Julius had just speared a piece of cold toast with the end of his fork when a set of hands placed themselves over his eyes, blinding him. He paused for a moment, and leaving the fork standing up in the slice of bread, lifted his hands to cover the ones covering his eyes, grasping them softly as he drew them away from his face.
He sighed softly, dreading this moment. He had been up half the night battling with his heart, knowing he cared too much about Hermione to drag her into this whole sordid affair with the Dark Lord. Turning in his seat, he gave the girl standing before him a half smile, "Hello, Hermione."
"Morning, Julius," she replied with that smile she shared only with him. "Ready to give Slytherin hell?"
"Yeah," he answered quietly, his eyes looking down at the hands he was holding warmly in his own. It was now or never, he thought to himself as he slowly stood, casting a cheerless, swarthy gaze up into her beautiful eyes.
"Julius," Hermione began, her brows furrowing in concern, "is something wrong?"
"Hermione," he replied softly, rising slowly from his seat at the table, "could I talk to you out in the hall?"
"Sure," she answered shakily, her breakfast suddenly churning within her stomach, making her nauseous.
Julius led the Gryffindor into the large foyer outside the Great Hall, his eyes remaining upon the floor tiles ahead of him, and paused before the same windows where Professor Snape had stood on the day he gave permission for the use of the Potions classroom. Slowly, he lifted his dark eyes to look with a deep remorsefulness upon the girl he loved standing before him.
Bradley was just beginning to gather his troops a few minutes later when Julius re-entered the Hall and brushed by him, pausing only long enough to say, "I'll meet you guys down at the pitch." Without a single glance back he strode to the rear of the hall and disappeared out a doorway, taking a less travelled route to the stadium.
"Glad to see you finally have your priorities sorted out," Bradley called to him before he vanished from sight. Turning back to his team-mates, he caught a brief glimpse of Hermione Granger entering the Hall with tear-strained eyes, moving towards the Gryffindor table.
Julius was half-way to the pitch, his face set in an expression of misery, when he heard footsteps rapidly approaching behind him. A moment later, a hand grasped his shoulder, spinning him around unexpectedly.
"What did you say to her?" Ron asked heatedly, his ears turning a definite shade of red as he stood before Julius, brown eyes darkening.
"Ron," Julius began depressedly, "Now is really not a good time." He kept his eyes upon the ground, unable to look at anyone, and turned to continue on his way.
"Don't walk away," Ron replied, grasping Julius's arm, causing the boy to turn to glance at him, dark eyes smouldering. "Hermione is in the Hall crying her eyes out ," he said, pointing back towards the castle, "and she won't tell us what happened. Now I saw you take her out into the foyer and I want to know what you said to her!"
Julius considered the boy before him, couldn't he see how much he was hurting, having to tell someone he cared about that he couldn't see her anymore? "This is between Hermione and me, Ron. I'm sorry."
"No, this is between you and me, DeVere," Ron returned, frowning deeply. "You know, I thought you were a really great guy, and I was happy for Hermione, glad she found someone who made her smile. But now I think a part of me is glad that you are out of the picture, cause you obviously don't deserve her. Go on, go down to your Quidditch pitch, as that is apparently more important to you than your friends. Just wonder if you will still feel that way when you find you don't have any friends left." And with that, Ron Weasley turned his back upon the Ravenclaw and made his way purposefully back towards the castle without looking back.
Julius watched him go, his heart feeling heavier than it had ever felt in his life. He had not wanted to hurt Hermione, only to protect her from what dangers could come. Everything was happening so fast, there were so many unknowns in his life right now.
Professor Dumbledore made his way quietly through the stands, finding a seat next to the dark-clad potions master, slowly lowering his aging frame onto the bench. When he was settled, he asked, "How did it go with Julius?"
"As well as it could go, Headmaster," Snape returned, and then suddenly stood with a monstrous frown, yelling at one of the Slytherin replacement Beaters as he hit one of the balls out of the stadium, "That's the Quaffle, not a Bludger you dunderhead!"
"Interesting playing strategies your team has, Severus," Dumbledore chuckled. "Where are Mr. Malfoy and his friends? Ah, yes, there they are down below."
Draco Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were sitting in the lower stands as they were still banned from playing, the two toadies moaning and screaming at the copious mistakes being made by the stand-ins. Draco was sitting dejectedly with his arms crossed, a frown upon his face as he watched the game in sullen silence, wishing Julius DeVere would pass by a little closer so he could kick his broom out from under him. It was all his fault, Malfoy thought, fuming, if Slytherin lost this game.
The new broomstick had definitely made a difference in the boy's game. He was much more easily able to swoop in a steal the Quaffle from one of the Slytherin Chasers or dodge a Bludger. On the outside, Severus Snape groaned with each pass of the Quaffle through the Slytherin hoops, but inwardly, he couldn't help but feel proud one particular Ravenclaw Chaser.
The game ended within three hours with Ravenclaw claiming the win, and Bradley and Julius were carried high on the shoulders of their house-mates towards the castle. Julius however, glancing about, felt the win to be empty without his Gryffindor friends to share it with. Apparently, they hadn't even come to the game, staying instead with Hermione in the Gryffindor common room.
Julius's heart ached as he thought of Harry and Ron drying Hermione's tears themselves. Missing her tender hugs and warm sunny smiles already. When the Ravenclaw students finally lowered him to the floor of the common room, they were quite surprised when he climbed the stairs to his dorm and did not come down the rest of the night.
Snape found it hard to hide his smile as he watched his son being carried in victory, and that vision stayed with him as he made his way down into the cool dark dungeons towards his office. Once in those quiet halls, he was able to openly grin, but it was soon wiped away as he neared the door to the Potions area. The potions master stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes took in the tall, slender figure of a man with long blond hair leaning against the wall just outside the office door, inspecting his fingernails.
Noting the sudden cease of echoing footsteps, Lucius Malfoy turned his head, and offered a too friendly smile full of hidden malice as he straightened, standing before the potion's professor. "Ah, Severus. I see you have remembered your wards this time."
A/N: Now THIS is a cliff-hanger! You know I just HAD to do it. : )
Perhaps I should have warned you all in the very beginning that I am a bit of a sadist. I love torturing my readers. Muhahahahaha!
But don't worry, this is the last cliff-hanger…I promise.