Even When There's No Way, There's Always A Will
~* Hi, thanks to Craig (I liked my 'wall' idea too ;) ), Sas (thanks heaps for putting me on your favourite authors list!), and Stephanie, who is really my best friend (yes, in real life), I asked her to read it and tell me what she thought, but instead of telling me, she reviewed! Yay! *~
Chapter 15 ~ There Are Consequences For Your Actions
'Miss Newbury, I trust you can tell me what's in this water?' Albus Dumbledore said after smelling the water.
'Professor Dumbledore,' Andrea said slowly, 'Are you accusing me of spiking Draco's water?' She finnished.
'You were the only other person in the room, I don't know what to believe.' Dumbledore said, glancing around the room for some evidence.
'Draco is like, my best friend Professor, I would NEVER do that to him, even after breaking up with his girlfriend.'
'He broke up with Cho?' Professor Dumbledore looked at Andrea wide-eyed.
'Yes Professor, something about him not wanting Cho to get hurt by his father or something like that, I don't know much, he was knocked unconscious before I had the chance to properly ask him of the details. He seemed really REALLY cut up over breaking it off with Cho.' Andrea said, picking at her nails.
'Miss Newbury, do you know what substance was in Mr Malfoy's water?'
'No Professor, I'm sorry, I don't know. I don't think old Snape ever taught us about anything of the sort.'
'Firstly, it's Professor Snape, and secondly, the substance in Mr Malfoy's water was not a Potion that Professor Snape is familiar with. It is quite a Dark Potion, so it could have only come from a Drak Witch or Wizard.' Professor Dumbledore said quietly.
'What is it Professor?' Andrea asked, now worried that the Potion could have come from Lucious Malfoy himself. But why would anyone put their own son under a potion? Especially a Dark, and Powerfull one?
'This Potion is called a Demrah Potion. It is famous for knocking the victim's life to within an inch of death.'
'Woah,' Andrea said, now wide-eyed. 'So you mean that Draco is almost DEAD?' She exclaimed.
'Mr Malfoy is in a very critical condition. A cut on his arm could kill him in his state.'
'Oh no! With Cho as angry at him as she would be, she could do something to him, which might kill him!' Andrea cried. Dumbledore looked at her with a look of greatest concern.
'Let me assure you Miss Newbury, Mr Malfoy is perfectly safe, he has been taken to St. Mungo's for the time being, until we can get hold of who did this, so they would reverse the potion.'
'Can't you reverse the potion yourself Headmaster?' Andrea asked, now completely fearing for her friend's life.
'I'm afraid not, I do not study Dark Magic. I have heard of this Potion before, when Lord Voldemort was at large, but never seen it in act before. I'm afraid that anything I tried could result in Mr Malfoy's death.' Dumbledore said sadly.
~***~
'Hey, Ron! Harry! You'll never guess what happened!' Hermione ran up to her two best friends.
'What now Hermione?' Ron grumbled. Hermione just shot him a "Hermione Look".
'Guess what?'
'I believe you already said that.' Ron said.
'Anyway,' Hermione scoffed, ignoring Ron's remark, 'Malfoy's been taken away to St Mungo's.' Harry and Ron's eyes both widened, but Harry laughed.
'I always knew he was a little crazy!' He chuckled. Hermione shot him a nasty look.
'Harry, this is serious! Professor McGonagall told me that he was slipped Demrah Potion!'
'Huh?' Ron said, looking confused. Hermione sighed.
'I forgot, you two don't read!' She said exasporatedly. 'Demrah Potion is an extremely Dark Potion, it leaves it's victim an inch from death. Harry, Ron, this is very serious, even is Malfoy IS our worst enemy. A tiny scratch could kill him!' Hermione said, lowering her voice to a whisper.
~***~
Two weeks later, Draco was still in critical condition. He was eating weak soup, and slowly deteriorating from lack of vitamins. There was nothing the nurses at St Mungo's could do, he could only eat soup, anything else was too much for him to swallow, and he would choke.
Andrea now went everywhere by herself, occasionally scoring nasty looks from the other Slytherin's, who thought it was her who had slipped Draco the potion.
Hermione had began to notice this. One morning, before Potions, she saw Andrea standing by herself, and, since Harry and Ron were no where to be seen, Hermione walked over to talk to Andrea.
'Andrea,' Hermione said cautiously.
'What? Do you want to accuse me of sliping that potion to Draco too? Or are you here to congratulate me on a job well done?' Andrea said, rather nastily.
Calm down Hermione, she thought to herself, the girl's just got her defences up at the moment, that's all.
'No.' Hermione said. 'I don't believe you did it. I did some reaserch -'
'What do you want Granger?' Andrea snapped. Hermione looked shocked. Mainly because Andrea normally called her Mudblood and spoke to her in a much nastier tone.
'I just wanted you to know, that you're not alone.' Hermione finally said. Andrea narrowed her eyes.
'You have no idea do you Granger? What it's like to have your best friend an inch from death, do you? Maybe we should get some of that potion to Potter. It'd do him some good.' Andrea said harshly, but Hermione wasn't going anywhere.
'No Andrea, I don't know what it's like to have my best friend an inch from death, and I don't particularly want to know what that's like. Even though Mal - Draco and I have never been friends, I do feel quite affected by this whole thing.' Hermione said.
'Affected? How can you possibly be affected? He hates you Granger, and so do I, so I don't know why you're bothering to talk to me.'
'Not all people take a situation like this lightly Andrea.' Hermione said, choosing to ignore Andrea's remark.
'Why don't you complain to your friends? What are you doing talking to me?' Andrea scoffed.
'Because you can't handle this alone, that's why.' Hermione answered. Andrea decided to drop her harsh act.
'Hermione, thanks. I appreciate it.' She said.
'Anytime Andrea. If you need someone to talk to, just come see me.' Hermione told her. Andrea was close to tears.
'Oh my God, it was like, one minute he was fine, and the next minute, he was unconscious! It was so scary Granger, and what's worse is that everyone thinks I did it, just because I was there at the time. Dumbledore said I couldn't have possibly done it, because the Potion is such a Dark and Powerfull one. Oh what will happen if Dumbledore can't find the person, or thing, that did this to Draco?' Andrea wailed. Hermione hugged her in comfort.
'Dumbledore'll find the person. . . or thing, that did this to Malfoy, and he'll be all better in no time.' Hermione said softly.
~***~
Harry and Ron were greeted with a nasty shock when they arrived at Potions, five minutes late. After having ample points deducted, the pair goggled at Hermione, who was sitting with Andrea Newbury! They took their usual seats, making a mental note to talk to Hermione about it after class, not wanting to lose Gryffindor any more points than they already had for being late.
~***~
'Hermione! I've got it! I have to talk to Dumbledore!' Andrea sprinted off down the corridor after Potions, leaving a stunned Hermione gaping at her.
'Hermione! Hey Hermione!' Ron and Harry appeared by Hermione's sides, one on each side.
'Hermione, what do you think you're doing hanging around Slytherin Scum like Andrea Newbury?' Harry demanded.
'Oh Harry, give her a break, her only friend is in a critical condition, and everyone thinks she did it.' Hermione said.
'Yeah, maybe she DID do it Hermione, and is planning to do the same to you. We don't want to have to watch you be almost dead.' Ron said, looking almost suddenly at the floor when he had said that.
'She didn't do it Ron. You have to believe me. She may be Slytherin, but she wouldn't do that to her best friend, besides, Dumbledore himself said that she would never be able to manage a powerfull dark potion such as the Demrah Potion.' Hermione said matter-of-factly.
'Why do you believe her? And more importantly, why are you hanging around her?' Harry asked.
'Because, you idiot, she's in a bad way, very shocked, and she needs a friend, someone to talk to, someone to lean on, a shoulder to cry on. And since the Slytherin's aren't providing much support, I decided to step in.' Hermione scolded.
'Fine Hermione, be friends with Andrea, be her shoulder to cry on. See how much we care when you end up like Malfoy!' Ron turned and stormed off. Harry looked apologetically at Hermione, who was near tears.
'Sorry about him Hermione, you know how he is with you and making friends with the enemy.' Harry said comforting. Hermione knew he was refering back to when she went to the Yule Ball with Harry's competition, Viktor Krum. Ron had been completely psycho on Hermione for that, and didn't speak to her for weeks after. Harry gave Hermione one last "I'm sorry" look, and took off after Ron.
~***~
'. . . and that's how I know that Lucious Malfoy did it.' Andrea finnished.
'Are you quite sure Miss Newbury?' Dumbledore took in all this information that Andrea had burst out.
'Yes Sir, I'm sure.'
'So this is all because Lucious Malfoy was unaware of his son ending his relationship with Miss Chang, and when he finally did find out, it was too late to stop Mr Malfoy from taking a sip from his water. . .' Dumbledore mused. 'I believe I shall have to collect Lucious Malfoy for questioning. Thank-you very much Miss Newbury, but how did you say Lucious managed to stay in the room unseen?'
'He used a Penatratus Charm, used to make a wall -'
'I know perfectly well what a Penatratus Charm does. Thank-you for your time Miss Newbury.' Dumbledore said, and Andrea, taking a hint, left his office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
~* Hope you guys liked that chapter, sorry it took me so long to post it. . . ah well, it's up now for you to enjoy (and review . . . ::puppy dog eyes:: . . .)! *~
~Gryffindor Gal~
PS, don't worry about "Stephanie", she's my friend from school, and a bit of an idiot . . . in a funny way! Lol!
~* Hi, thanks to Craig (I liked my 'wall' idea too ;) ), Sas (thanks heaps for putting me on your favourite authors list!), and Stephanie, who is really my best friend (yes, in real life), I asked her to read it and tell me what she thought, but instead of telling me, she reviewed! Yay! *~
Chapter 15 ~ There Are Consequences For Your Actions
'Miss Newbury, I trust you can tell me what's in this water?' Albus Dumbledore said after smelling the water.
'Professor Dumbledore,' Andrea said slowly, 'Are you accusing me of spiking Draco's water?' She finnished.
'You were the only other person in the room, I don't know what to believe.' Dumbledore said, glancing around the room for some evidence.
'Draco is like, my best friend Professor, I would NEVER do that to him, even after breaking up with his girlfriend.'
'He broke up with Cho?' Professor Dumbledore looked at Andrea wide-eyed.
'Yes Professor, something about him not wanting Cho to get hurt by his father or something like that, I don't know much, he was knocked unconscious before I had the chance to properly ask him of the details. He seemed really REALLY cut up over breaking it off with Cho.' Andrea said, picking at her nails.
'Miss Newbury, do you know what substance was in Mr Malfoy's water?'
'No Professor, I'm sorry, I don't know. I don't think old Snape ever taught us about anything of the sort.'
'Firstly, it's Professor Snape, and secondly, the substance in Mr Malfoy's water was not a Potion that Professor Snape is familiar with. It is quite a Dark Potion, so it could have only come from a Drak Witch or Wizard.' Professor Dumbledore said quietly.
'What is it Professor?' Andrea asked, now worried that the Potion could have come from Lucious Malfoy himself. But why would anyone put their own son under a potion? Especially a Dark, and Powerfull one?
'This Potion is called a Demrah Potion. It is famous for knocking the victim's life to within an inch of death.'
'Woah,' Andrea said, now wide-eyed. 'So you mean that Draco is almost DEAD?' She exclaimed.
'Mr Malfoy is in a very critical condition. A cut on his arm could kill him in his state.'
'Oh no! With Cho as angry at him as she would be, she could do something to him, which might kill him!' Andrea cried. Dumbledore looked at her with a look of greatest concern.
'Let me assure you Miss Newbury, Mr Malfoy is perfectly safe, he has been taken to St. Mungo's for the time being, until we can get hold of who did this, so they would reverse the potion.'
'Can't you reverse the potion yourself Headmaster?' Andrea asked, now completely fearing for her friend's life.
'I'm afraid not, I do not study Dark Magic. I have heard of this Potion before, when Lord Voldemort was at large, but never seen it in act before. I'm afraid that anything I tried could result in Mr Malfoy's death.' Dumbledore said sadly.
~***~
'Hey, Ron! Harry! You'll never guess what happened!' Hermione ran up to her two best friends.
'What now Hermione?' Ron grumbled. Hermione just shot him a "Hermione Look".
'Guess what?'
'I believe you already said that.' Ron said.
'Anyway,' Hermione scoffed, ignoring Ron's remark, 'Malfoy's been taken away to St Mungo's.' Harry and Ron's eyes both widened, but Harry laughed.
'I always knew he was a little crazy!' He chuckled. Hermione shot him a nasty look.
'Harry, this is serious! Professor McGonagall told me that he was slipped Demrah Potion!'
'Huh?' Ron said, looking confused. Hermione sighed.
'I forgot, you two don't read!' She said exasporatedly. 'Demrah Potion is an extremely Dark Potion, it leaves it's victim an inch from death. Harry, Ron, this is very serious, even is Malfoy IS our worst enemy. A tiny scratch could kill him!' Hermione said, lowering her voice to a whisper.
~***~
Two weeks later, Draco was still in critical condition. He was eating weak soup, and slowly deteriorating from lack of vitamins. There was nothing the nurses at St Mungo's could do, he could only eat soup, anything else was too much for him to swallow, and he would choke.
Andrea now went everywhere by herself, occasionally scoring nasty looks from the other Slytherin's, who thought it was her who had slipped Draco the potion.
Hermione had began to notice this. One morning, before Potions, she saw Andrea standing by herself, and, since Harry and Ron were no where to be seen, Hermione walked over to talk to Andrea.
'Andrea,' Hermione said cautiously.
'What? Do you want to accuse me of sliping that potion to Draco too? Or are you here to congratulate me on a job well done?' Andrea said, rather nastily.
Calm down Hermione, she thought to herself, the girl's just got her defences up at the moment, that's all.
'No.' Hermione said. 'I don't believe you did it. I did some reaserch -'
'What do you want Granger?' Andrea snapped. Hermione looked shocked. Mainly because Andrea normally called her Mudblood and spoke to her in a much nastier tone.
'I just wanted you to know, that you're not alone.' Hermione finally said. Andrea narrowed her eyes.
'You have no idea do you Granger? What it's like to have your best friend an inch from death, do you? Maybe we should get some of that potion to Potter. It'd do him some good.' Andrea said harshly, but Hermione wasn't going anywhere.
'No Andrea, I don't know what it's like to have my best friend an inch from death, and I don't particularly want to know what that's like. Even though Mal - Draco and I have never been friends, I do feel quite affected by this whole thing.' Hermione said.
'Affected? How can you possibly be affected? He hates you Granger, and so do I, so I don't know why you're bothering to talk to me.'
'Not all people take a situation like this lightly Andrea.' Hermione said, choosing to ignore Andrea's remark.
'Why don't you complain to your friends? What are you doing talking to me?' Andrea scoffed.
'Because you can't handle this alone, that's why.' Hermione answered. Andrea decided to drop her harsh act.
'Hermione, thanks. I appreciate it.' She said.
'Anytime Andrea. If you need someone to talk to, just come see me.' Hermione told her. Andrea was close to tears.
'Oh my God, it was like, one minute he was fine, and the next minute, he was unconscious! It was so scary Granger, and what's worse is that everyone thinks I did it, just because I was there at the time. Dumbledore said I couldn't have possibly done it, because the Potion is such a Dark and Powerfull one. Oh what will happen if Dumbledore can't find the person, or thing, that did this to Draco?' Andrea wailed. Hermione hugged her in comfort.
'Dumbledore'll find the person. . . or thing, that did this to Malfoy, and he'll be all better in no time.' Hermione said softly.
~***~
Harry and Ron were greeted with a nasty shock when they arrived at Potions, five minutes late. After having ample points deducted, the pair goggled at Hermione, who was sitting with Andrea Newbury! They took their usual seats, making a mental note to talk to Hermione about it after class, not wanting to lose Gryffindor any more points than they already had for being late.
~***~
'Hermione! I've got it! I have to talk to Dumbledore!' Andrea sprinted off down the corridor after Potions, leaving a stunned Hermione gaping at her.
'Hermione! Hey Hermione!' Ron and Harry appeared by Hermione's sides, one on each side.
'Hermione, what do you think you're doing hanging around Slytherin Scum like Andrea Newbury?' Harry demanded.
'Oh Harry, give her a break, her only friend is in a critical condition, and everyone thinks she did it.' Hermione said.
'Yeah, maybe she DID do it Hermione, and is planning to do the same to you. We don't want to have to watch you be almost dead.' Ron said, looking almost suddenly at the floor when he had said that.
'She didn't do it Ron. You have to believe me. She may be Slytherin, but she wouldn't do that to her best friend, besides, Dumbledore himself said that she would never be able to manage a powerfull dark potion such as the Demrah Potion.' Hermione said matter-of-factly.
'Why do you believe her? And more importantly, why are you hanging around her?' Harry asked.
'Because, you idiot, she's in a bad way, very shocked, and she needs a friend, someone to talk to, someone to lean on, a shoulder to cry on. And since the Slytherin's aren't providing much support, I decided to step in.' Hermione scolded.
'Fine Hermione, be friends with Andrea, be her shoulder to cry on. See how much we care when you end up like Malfoy!' Ron turned and stormed off. Harry looked apologetically at Hermione, who was near tears.
'Sorry about him Hermione, you know how he is with you and making friends with the enemy.' Harry said comforting. Hermione knew he was refering back to when she went to the Yule Ball with Harry's competition, Viktor Krum. Ron had been completely psycho on Hermione for that, and didn't speak to her for weeks after. Harry gave Hermione one last "I'm sorry" look, and took off after Ron.
~***~
'. . . and that's how I know that Lucious Malfoy did it.' Andrea finnished.
'Are you quite sure Miss Newbury?' Dumbledore took in all this information that Andrea had burst out.
'Yes Sir, I'm sure.'
'So this is all because Lucious Malfoy was unaware of his son ending his relationship with Miss Chang, and when he finally did find out, it was too late to stop Mr Malfoy from taking a sip from his water. . .' Dumbledore mused. 'I believe I shall have to collect Lucious Malfoy for questioning. Thank-you very much Miss Newbury, but how did you say Lucious managed to stay in the room unseen?'
'He used a Penatratus Charm, used to make a wall -'
'I know perfectly well what a Penatratus Charm does. Thank-you for your time Miss Newbury.' Dumbledore said, and Andrea, taking a hint, left his office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
~* Hope you guys liked that chapter, sorry it took me so long to post it. . . ah well, it's up now for you to enjoy (and review . . . ::puppy dog eyes:: . . .)! *~
~Gryffindor Gal~
PS, don't worry about "Stephanie", she's my friend from school, and a bit of an idiot . . . in a funny way! Lol!