Chapter five
Draco walked quickly down the halls of Hogwarts towards the dungeons. He made his way down the stairs leading to the potion storeroom.
"Where have you been? And why isn't Miss Granger with you?" Snape's angry voice demanded. Draco turned to see him standing in the doorway with his arms crossed.
"We only just made it back to the castle for breakfast. We had no time between breakfast and first classes to come here and give you the bark. Granger isn't here because she was sitting at the Gryffindor table eating lunch with Potter, and there was no way I was going over there to get her." Draco answered.
Snape took the bag of bark from Draco's extended hand and examined a strip carefully. "Hmm. The glow has faded slightly, but that always happens. Very good." He looked up at Draco with piercing eyes. "I trust you and Miss Granger didn't use your wands against each other last night?"
"No. We didn't." Draco answered. Although, he thought to himself, I came bloody close several times. That mudblood pissed me off so badly.
"Good." Snape said. "Now, you'd better go eat some lunch before you're late to your last class."
"Yes sir." Draco turned and exited the room. He headed to the Great Hall and sat down amongst the seventh year Slytherins. As he ate, Draco remembered his detention the night before. His eyes flashed in irritation when he remembered Granger leaving him to do all the work and wandering off by herself into the forest. Draco's eyebrow furrowed when the mysterious cabin that he had found Granger in front of made its way to the surface of his memories.
Draco found it strange that someone would build a cabin in the middle of the Forbidden Forest, where only they would ever know it was there.
'Whoever built that cabin must have hidden something there.' Draco realized. 'Something that they wanted no-one else to find.'
One thing that Draco couldn't stand was knowing less about something then Granger, because she could always throw it in his face. Draco decided to visit the cabin that night and find out as much as he could about it.
When the last of the Slytherin's left the Common Room, Draco went up to his dorm and uncovered his Firebolt Extreme Broomstick from under his bed. He walked over to the window quietly, and pulled the glass pane up. A clod breeze entered the room, and Draco heard Goyle murmur in his sleep and shuffle down further in his covers.
Draco sat on his broom and flew swiftly out the window. His cloak fanned out behind him as he sped across the top of the Forbidden Forest. The icy wind felt like a hand of steel hitting him across the face, time and time again. Draco closed his eyes for a few seconds to avoid the wind drying them out, but he opened them to find himself veering into the Forest.
Draco quickly raised the top of his broomstick just before he crashed into the forest canopy. He flew for just over an hour before he saw the emerald glowing of the Oaks a few hundred meters to his west.
He noticed a small clearing in the middle of the Glowing Oaks and glided down next to the lake, which took up a significant amount of the clearing. He dropped down from his broom a few meters above ground then reached up and snatched his Firebolt Extreme out of the sky before it continued on its way and smashed into a tree.
He tucked it under his arm and looked around curiously, trying to figure out where he had landed. When he noticed the small river flowing softly out of the lake and into the trees he remembered following Granger down that way the night before.
As Draco walked next to the river he noticed a dark area up ahead, which wasn't filled with the expected emerald glow, but instead was just a patch of darkness. Draco felt some invisible force trying to push his eyes away from the hidden cabin, and he had to concentrate very hard to keep it in sight. He approached it carefully, unsure whether someone may still be living there.
He peered into the windows, which were half covered with overgrown vines, and noticed a faint light emanating from somewhere inside the cabin. Draco's eyes widened as he saw a shadow pass in front of the light, then disappear again. He slowly walked over to the front door, ducking under a few branches of nearby Glowing Oaks and avoiding a huntsman spider dangling from a web.
Draco turned the handle and opened the door. As he peered around the edge of the door and into the dark cabin a fist flew out of the darkness and slammed into his face.
"Fuck!" Draco cursed in pain and fell to the ground from the unexpected force, but immediately stood up with his wand aimed into the shadows. "Who's there?" he demanded.
"What the hell are you doing here Malfoy?" Granger stepped angrily out of the gloom, glaring hard at him.
Draco took only a few seconds to decide whether to still use his raised wand. "Expelliarmus!"
Even though Hermione wasn't holding her wand, the spell still hit her, knocked her off her feet and hurtled her across the room. She crashed into the wall fell to the ground. She didn't move once she hit the ground.
Draco groaned and made his way over to her after closing the door. He stood over her limp body, considering leaving her there while he looked around the cabin. As he turned indifferently away from her to examine the bookshelf on the opposite wall, Hermione's hand lashed out and whacked him behind his knees.
Draco's legs gave way underneath him and he fell to his knees. Hermione stood up quickly from feigned unconsciousness and kicked Draco viciously in the stomach. He doubled over, holding his stomach.
"You prick!" Hermione yelled as she kicked him for a second time, this time in the ribs. Draco grunted in pain and glared up at her. She raised her foot once more and he cringed away, hoping she wouldn't aim for his groin. "You cursed me when you knew I held no wand to defend myself with!" She kicked for a third time in his lower back.
Draco straightened as a jolt of pain seared through his back. As he noticed her raise her foot again, Draco thought he'd better do something to save himself being beaten to a pulp.
"I'm sorry." He mumbled, watching her foot apprehensively. Hermione stopped mid-kick and looked down at Draco. Her eyes softened slightly.
"What?" she asked him in mock disbelief. "Did you just say you were sorry? The mighty Draco Malfoy just apologized to a Mudblood?"
"Don't rub it in." Draco said through clenched teeth.
"Fine." Hermione placed her foot gently on the ground and walked over to a small rectangular table and sat down on one of the two chairs. Draco groaned and lay down on his back.
After a few minutes of silence, Hermione stood and made her way over to a cupboard located on the right wall of the cabin. She opened it and got out a small ceramic bowl from amongst the shelves of crockery. She then reached up to the window in front of her and ripped a section of material from the curtain.
Hermione carried them both with her outside. A few moments later she walked back inside, closing the door with her foot. She walked over to Draco and knelt down beside him. She dunked the cloth into the bowl now full of crystal clear water form the stream that runs outside the cabin.
"Don't touch me with that." He ordered her weakly.
"Stop being childish. I'm not about to go back to the castle and have you blame all these injuries on me."
"Why did you inflict them upon me in the first place, if you're just going to clean them up again?" Draco asked her with a smirk.
"Shut up." Hermione said impatiently. She wetted the cloth again and dabbed it gently on the bleeding wounds. It stung badly but Draco made no show of it. Suddenly Hermione began to laugh and Draco scowled up at her.
"I should have known that you were going to come out tonight. I know you well enough to be aware that you have your curiosities satisfied. I hate to say it, but we're the same in that way."
Draco shuddered, then said firmly "We're not alike in any way."
Hermione said nothing after that just cleaned up his bleeding chest. Once she was finished she rinsed the bowl in the stream and left it on the bench to dry.
Draco looked around the inside of the cabin curiously, taking in the inside of it for the first time. It had a bench and cupboard, small table with two chairs, a single bed off in the corner and a couch with a thick rug draped along its back. Lining the far wall was a large bookcase full of books, scripts and old parchment.
"I was searching through the drawers in the kitchen trying to find something of interest before you arrived, but all I discovered was cutlery and a few dead spiders." Hermione told him stiffly, fully aware of the death glares he was sending in her direction.
"I think the bookshelf would be a more promising option." He said icily. "I suppose it would be stupid to go back to the castle without searching this place first. I mean, it is very suspicious."
Hermione nodded her agreement. "The bookshelf it is." They both made their way over there and began rummaging at opposite ends. Draco flipped through books of magic history, the Dark Ages, and old rolls of parchment.
After half an hour, they both began to get despondent and felt the other grate their nerves more with every passing moment. Draco was ready to try cursing Hermione again, when she let out a small gasp of surprise, then quickly clamped her hand over her mouth.
"What?" Draco demanded.
'Nothing. Never mind. It's nothing at all…really." Hermione said unconvincingly.
Draco stood up and walked over to her. "Hand it over." He said. Looking at the small book she clutched in her delicate hands. She slowly handed it up to him.
Draco's eyes scanned the front cover quickly, and as the implications of it hit him, he paled noticeably. He held a plain, simple book. The cover was a deep maroon. Two signatures were scripted on the front cover in gold ink. Above each signature was a fingerprint, also in the gold ink. All of these things were acceptable, but the part of the book which made Hermione gasp and Draco pale were the names the signatures spelled out:
Derek Malfoy and Esmerelda Granger.
Draco dropped the book and sat down heavily on the couch. Hermione reached over and picked it up again turning it over in her hand. She exhaled loudly, then tried to open it. But it wouldn't budge. Draco noticed her eyebrows furrow in concentration. She tried again, but the book remained unopened.
"Give it here." Draco said gruffly. Hermione tossed the book across the mat on the floor and Draco caught it in midair. He attempted to separate the front and back covers, but they felt as if they were held together with a strong charm. "Bloody thing." Draco felt a cold shiver run down his spine as he read 'Esmerelda Granger' again.
"Maybe it's just a coincidence." Hermione suggested, reading his mind. "Any two people could have the last names Malfoy or Granger." She walked over to him and unconsciously sat down next to him.
"I doubt it." He answered her. "Neither of them are common names."
Hermione silently agreed with him. "It looks like a journal to me. Maybe it's got Derek and Esmerelda's writings in it. If we could only open it, it may give us a clue as to why their signatures and finger prints are on the front cover."
Draco turned the journal over to the back cover, and his eyes strayed on two fingertip shaped grooves side by side. He pointed them out to Hermione. "Hmm…I wonder what they're there for?"
Draco shrugged his shoulders and pocketed the journal. They searched through the shelves for another hour or so, but found nothing else interesting. Hermione decided to leave so she could get back to the castle and hopefully grab a few hours sleep before breakfast.
Draco left soon after her, flying off on his broomstick and leaving Hermione far behind to hike through the Forbidden Forest for an hour or more in the freezing cold.
Hermione ducked through the portrait hole after giving the sleepy Fat Lady the password. It was midmorning, so she was very surprised to see Harry sleeping alone by a table placed in front of the fireplace. She walked curiously over to him and woke him gently.
"Whassup?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. He blinked a few times and looked up at Hermione. "Hermione? I thought you weren't feeling well. You should be back in bed where you belong."
"Uh…" Hermione stuttered. She had forgotten her claim of illness at dinner where she had left the Great Hall to 'go to bed'. Instead she had sneaked out of the castle to go check out the cabin.
"I'm feeling much better. It must have been something I ate." She lied. "What are you doing? And where's Ron?"
Harry smiled guiltily at Hermione. "We were both sitting up finishing off our Astronomy homework, when Ron decided to go to bed." Harry chuckled to himself. "Earlier, I had put a few rubber spiders in his bed, to get back at him for pushing me out of the carriage on our arrival at Hogwarts. He saw them as soon as he pulled back the covers and immediately fainted. It was so funny Hermione, he was mumbling that one nearly bit his leg as I shook him awake, but that he had narrowly escaped! They were rubber!" Harry laughed again, remembering the moment.
Hermione smiled tolerantly at him, and said "I suppose I had to have been there, right?" Once Harry nodded, she voiced her next question. "So where is Ron now?"
"Oh, he's up in the hospital wing. He didn't want to spend the night in his bed once 'spiders had already made it their home.' He also claimed that he might have a concussion from when he fainted. I think that Madam Pomfrey couldn't be bothered turning him away, so she quickly examined him then set him up in a bed for the night."
Hermione shook her head, smiling at Ron's expense. "He's in seventh year and he still can't handle spiders. That's a bit of a worry." She said to Harry, sitting down next to him.
"I know." Harry agreed. "But it's been seven years since I first realised one of my worst fears, and Volemort still worries me."
Hermione frowned. "His powers keep getting stronger and stronger. I can't believe he hasn't attacked Hogwarts yet. Dumbledore's presence must still be too strong for him."
Harry's eyebrows knitted in thought. "Is it just me, or has Dumbledore been very reserved lately? I've noticed him watching you closely a few times now, Hermione."
She looked up in surprise. "When? I haven't noticed."
Harry's eyes narrowed in concentration. "When he announced the Head Boy and Girl for one- actually it was just after he had said 'I hope you all find many hidden talents.' I found that strange."
Hermione relaxed. "That means nothing Harry."
"And again when you walked out of dinner early." He continued, ignoring Hermione. "He seemed to know exactly where you were going, but you didn't look that sick to me."
Hermione shrugged that off too, although she secretly wondered if Dumbledore knew something. Could he possibly know about the cabin? Was there more to the cabin then what Malfoy and her had discovered that night?
Hermione decided, yet again, to go back to the cabin. There must be more to it then meets the eye and she was determined to find out what.