1 Day, or 24 Hours
DISCLAIMER: JK owns most of it; CJ owns the rest.
Chapter 8: The Seventh Hour
Time: 1:35AM
Draco's hands wrapped around Hermione's neck in way that was sure to leave bruises. His body crushed against hers as he forced her on the ground, his hips roughly grinding against hers, and her body floundering beneath him. One hand was trying to push Draco off her, and the other was stretched out to her side, trying to reach her wand that was strategically placed beyond her reach.
Hermione slightly rolled to the side, feeling the grit on the ground prick at her skin. Draco's grip on her neck loosened slightly, and she took this opportunity to yell, "Malfoy!"
After many fruitless attempts of grabbing her wand, she gave up and placed her now unoccupied hand on his naked back, dragging her nails across his flawless skin as hard as she could.
"Ahhh, you bitch!" Draco screamed in agony as he moved away from her to grab his own wand, blood streaming down his back in sanguine rivers.
Hermione scurried across the floor on all fours, the flesh on her hands ripping on the rough, gritty floor, and desperately tried to grab her wand.
But Draco was faster.
He ran Hermione into a small dusty corner and pointed his wand at her, "Now you will pay, Mudblood. You will finally get what you deserve."
Hermione cringed and braced herself, expecting the worse. She watched as Draco's mouth moved, his wand still pointing at her. "Crucio!" he yelled, and all of his pent up hatred for the girl in front of him turned tangible as the curse flew out of his wand hit the terrified girl.
1:50AM
"No!" Minerva McGonagall abruptly sat upright, breaking the terrible nightmare she was having. "It was just a nightmare," she whispered to herself, "it was just a nightmare." Even though she wanted to believe that it truly was only a nightmare, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was some truth to this dream. "I can't stand it any longer; I have to know that Hermione is safe," she mumbled and let her feet drop to the floor into her burgundy slippers so she could go to talk to Dumbledore.
1:55AM
It seemed to Severus Snape that the Headmaster never slept. He, too, was plagued with a dream similar to McGonagall's, except in his, Draco was the victim. Unnerved by the dream, he decided to pay old Dumbledore a visit, and found that McGonagall was already there.
"Professor," he greeted her curtly.
"Severus," she returned the greeting in the same tone. Curiosity got the better of her and she decided to ask why he was here at almost 2 in the morning.
"I couldn't sleep with the fact that one-two of our students are missing," he replied.
McGonagall ignored his slip up. She was aware of the special treatment he gave his students, and it slightly peeved her. "It seems we have similar sleeping patterns."
Before Snape could reply, Dumbledore entered his office. "Ah, Minerva," he paused and turned to Snape, "Severus. What an unexpected surprise! What brings you two to my office this early in the morning?"
In a shaky tone, McGonagall answered for the two of the worried professors, "I'm worried about Hermione and Draco…"
"Ah, nothing to worry about," Dumbledore cut her off, "I know where they are, and they are perfectly fine. They will return to us in no time."
"I'm sure they are fine where they are, but that's not what I'm worried about. As you know, Hermione and Draco haven't exactly been the closest for the past six years."
Snape nodded his head in agreement.
McGonagall continued, "I'm more worried about how they will act together. Putting them together is like putting a male and a female Black-Widow spider together," she paused for a dramatic effect, "The female ends up eating the male."
Snape laughed then mumbled under his breath, "I think in our case, the male will end up eating the female."
McGonagall shot him a dirty look, "Are you doubting Hermione? Even though she wasn't made Head Girl, she still is an incredibly bright student and I fully trust her." She paused, "On that subject, Albus, why wasn't Hermione been made Head Girl? I know for a fact that she had most of the votes from the teachers."
"Excluding me," Snape said to no one in particular, "She's too much of a know-it-all."
His comment gained him another dirty look from McGonagall. "Severus," McGonagall began firmly, "you need to stop being so harsh on that girl. It's hard enough for her to fit in among most students because of her Muggle parents, and you need not make it worse on her. For my past years at Hogwarts, I have put up with you being prejudice to my Gryffindors, and I…"
Dumbledore cleared his throat to silence McGonagall's ranting, "Enough, Minerva. Severus, please stop these comments at once. We have two missing students that I am sure you both care about, since they are both members of your corresponding house."
McGonagall and Snape stopped bickering and pivoted towards Dumbledore, giving him their full attention.
"Now, first of all, to answer your question, Minerva, regarding Hermione not performing the duty of Head Girl. As you had bluntly stated before, it is a well-known fact that Hermione and Draco do not get along. Fate decided that both would be the top of their class, but I decided against having them both take on this responsibility because I did not want one of them to, as you put it, be "eaten" by the other," he chuckled, "so I replaced one of them temporarily."
"Is there method to this madness?" McGonagall asked, obviously upset that Draco was the one who got the position.
"Of course there is, Minerva," Snape interceded, "We both know that we would have had a very unpleasant visit from Lucius Malfoy. He knew his son was ranked number one in the male population, and he would have been very upset if Draco was not chosen as Head Boy, even if it was only temporarily. Albus did all of us a favor."
McGonagall remained tight-lipped and faced Dumbledore, "What do you mean temporarily?"
"Do you really think that I would leave two of our students behind accidentally?"
Minerva knew that Dumbledore wouldn't, "What are you getting at?" she questioned, suspiciously.
Snape, now interested in this, stopped examining the portraits on the wall and turned towards the conversation.
"I'm saying that I have a reason for leaving them there."
"And that being…?"
"Friendship," Dumbledore said bluntly.
"Friendship?" Snape asked, knowing that it was impossible to find between a Malfoy and a Muggle-born.
"Yes. Trapping them in Hogsmeade together was the perfect solution. If you were stuck with your worst enemy for one day, what would you do? You can't stay enemies forever, especially when you have to depend on each other to find a way back home," Dumbledore smiled, proud of his ingenious plan.
After a second of letting Dumbledore's magnificent plan sink in, Snape said, "Clarify what you mean one day?"
"Simple, really. I will give them 24 hours to prove themselves. If they can act civilly towards each other, and maybe, tell me if I am asking to much, form a friendship, then Hermione will be Head Girl along with Draco."
"And if they both end up dead or brutally injured?" Snape asked, curiously.
"Then neither of them will be Heads. This, I guess, is considered their first task as potential Head Boy and Girl."
McGonagall's eyebrows rose, but she remained silent.
Just as McGonagall was pushing her chair out, getting ready to leave and go back to bed, Snape spoke up, "How exactly are they supposed to get back to Hogwarts?"
Dumbledore chuckled, his eyes glittering with one of those I-know-something-you-don't-know looks, "It's all in the past; their answer is in the past."
2:35AM
A/N: Jenn here. Well, I know you guys all probably wanted a heated Draco/Hermione chapter, but this chapter had to be here. Don't worry, there shouldn't be too many more Hogwarts chapters. Anyway, thank you so much for the reviews; you guys rock our socks off! (Oh, and btw, we don't try to put the reviews in a certain order, I just list them as I see them. We love all off you!!!)
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