Title: An Inevitable Fate
Chapter Nine: Unusual Companions
Author: KissThis
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Rating: R - if not now, then later. Just shut up and read it.
Pairing: Know the pair yet? You should...
Setting: 6th year in Hogwarts.
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Disclaimer: Too lazy to think of a *witty* disclaimer...I don't own shit...
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Two weeks passed. Hermione's training intensified to a point of obsession. She and Draco continued to research the bizarre occurrence in History of Magic but had yet to find any luck. It was on the 17th of September, after one of Hermione's more grueling days that found Hermione and Draco stretched out in the Restricted Section at half-past ten.
Hermione groaned and slammed shut Weird Wizarding Dilemmas and Their Solutions. Draco looked up at her from his own book with a tired expression.
"Nothing in this one either!" She exclaimed waving it in front of his face. With a face screwed up in frustration Hermione dropped the heavy tome atop a pile of similarly unhelpful books.
Stretching like a cat Hermione got to her feet and began to scan the shelves once again. Draco propped himself up on his elbows. He started talking, but his eyes remained scanning his own book.
"You're not going to find anything..."
"Well that's pessimistic," She snorted. She squinted trying to make out the fading covers in the dim light.
"No....." He drawled. "That's reality." He turned the page.
"Shut up," She growled half-heartedly.
"We've gone through all these books at least a dozen times."
Hermione grabbed Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions off the shelf with one hand and the other moved up to massage her temples. Draco was finding this an immensely enjoyable way to pass the time. Turning the page he chuckled quietly to himself.
"You know..." Hermione started slowly. It was obvious by her facial expression that she was trying very hard not to strangle him. "I am finding myself increasingly frustrated with you."
"You know you love me," He replied insolently -- enjoying himself immensely.
"Shut up!" She ordered, rather hysterically.
Draco actually was silent for a moment while Hermione flipped through Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions. But even though he appeared to be reading his own book, from Hermione's perspective, his eyes were actually focused on Hermione's reflection in the window above him.
Though Hermione couldn't see where his eyes were looking she had noticed that Draco hadn't turned the page for well over five minutes. She lowered her book.
"Draco?"
Draco let a long and overly exaggerated sigh, "My foot's asleep," He whined.
Hermione kicked him.
Draco leapt up from the floor and clutched his leg nursing the spot she had attacked. The tables had turned and it was now Hermione attempting to hide her amused giggles behind her book while Draco scowled ruefully up at her.
"Ok, number one...ow! Number two...what was that for?! Number three......OW!"
Hermione's insatiable laughter continued much to Draco's disgruntled displeasure.
"You were being a prick." She giggled as if that explained everything.
"I'm sorry?" He retorted in a sarcastic voice.
Hermione grinned and sat down next to him, "You should be!"
Draco rolled his eyes and moved so that he was leaning against one of the bookshelves. He had just started to read again when he felt a weight on his arm. Turning his head he found Hermione to be grinning goofily up at him.
"You make a nice pillow," She said simply. Without another word she turned away and settled herself so that her back was pressed against his arm and her head was resting slightly on his shoulder as she read her own book.
Shaking his head slightly Draco went back to his research.
It was some time after Draco felt Hermione's slight movements cease that he realized she had fallen asleep. He craned his neck over her mountain of curls to see that she was indeed sleeping. Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions lay open in her lap. A crumpled parchment, half-filled with Hermione's small cursive writing lay dropped at her side and the quill with which she had written those words was held loosely in her hand.
A single chestnut corkscrew fell over her peaceful face and fluttered in timing with her soft and even breathing. Her head rested heavily on his right shoulder and he could feel her cool cheek through the thin material of his shirt.
And as he stared at her an unearthly glow began to pulse within her. It spread outwards until she was encompassed within a shimmering field of white light. His eyes widened in shock as her school uniform disappeared and a white gown materialized to take its place. He was staring at the girl from his dreams.
But then he blinked and the vision disappeared.
Draco shook his head roughly trying to clear it of the traitorous images starting to roll through it. Fatigue was starting to wear on him, he finally decided. His lack of sleep had resulted in his "hallucination".
In fact, he repeated this conclusion over and over again in hopes that he might actually be able to convince himself of it. No such luck.
He looked back down at her and allowed himself a small smile. She looked so innocent. He hated to wake her, but carrying her back to the dorms seemed rather cliché. He was a Malfoy and Malfoys were anything but cliché. Besides...he liked her better awake.
"Hermione..." He whispered. While saying this he bounced his shoulders in hopes of easing her back into wakefulness. When this failed he resorted to rudimentary tactics.
Grabbing the book he had left forgotten in his lap he positioned himself so that he could maneuver both hands. He then flipped to the middle of the pages and held the book up to Hermione's sleeping face. With a silent countdown in his head, which skipped from seven to two, he accompanied the mental zero in his mind with a booming BANG! as he slammed the two halves of his book together.
The result was not what he'd expected. Her left arm shot backwards and her elbow connected soundly with his nose. His cry of pain was cut short because her right fist quickly followed the elbow-reflex as she got to his feet, which hit his jaw. Hermione, only now coming into total-wakefulness, suddenly realized what she had done and fell at his side.
"Oh Draco! I'm so sorry!" She gushed fumbling in her pockets for her wand. "It's become a reflex after I started training. I would've thought Harry would have warned you...same thing happened to him a few nights ago..."
Meanwhile, Draco's head was tipped back and he was holding his nose tenderly. He wanted to scream, but instead he said with calm annoyance in his voice; "Well.......ow!"
"You shouldn't have startled me like that," She mumbled under her breath before letting out a triumphant sound at having finally located her wayward wand. With said wand in one hand she reached up and gingerly pulled his hand away.
"Let me have a look at it..." She whispered soothingly. A spell was whispered but the exact incantation escaped Draco's hearing seeing as his other senses were a bit preoccupied. Though, it was highly unlikely he would have heard it even without the throbbing pain throughout his face.
Her fingers skillfully probed his nose but, though Draco had braced himself for mind-numbing pain, all he felt was pleasantly cool iciness that sunk into his skin wherever her fingers touched. It felt very nice indeed after having had an elbow be the last thing to connect with it.
"It's not broken," She finally concluded confidently. Another spell was muttered and the pain in his nose ebbed away. She did the same to his jaw and he was left in tip-top shape.
"You almost ruined my perfectly handsome face," He joked as she stood up. Accepting her hand, Draco allowed her to pull him to his feet. A quick movement caught his eye and he watched in surprise as Hermione's wand disappeared in a flash down the sleeve of her robe.
Draco's quick glance at the clock was followed by his next words; "It's a quarter 'till midnight. We'd best be getting back to the dorms if we want to get any sleep."
Hermione nodded and began to gather her things together while Draco directed the discarded books back to their homes on the shelves with a few flicks of his wand.
They walked slowly back to the common room taking their time and enjoying each other's company. Draco seemed no worse for the ware after their "scuffle" though Hermione still felt rather guilty about the whole thing. Not that she showed it, of course, but it was definitely stored away -- right beneath a horrifying memory of a flamingo incident when she was five and an original recipe for chicken kebobs. Well...at least she thought they were chicken. The mental image was rather fuzzy.
While she contemplated this another un-tethered thought romped across her mind. She finally reigned it in and re-filed it promptly back under the mental filing cabinet labeled; "Prefect Duties". But the sudden thought left a lasting imprint of interest and though she debated with it for a few moments she finally decided to share her interest with Draco.
"Do you have any ideas for the Halloween Ball?" She inquired -- trying not to sound too curious. "It's coming up you know."
"In a month and a half!" He exclaimed. His incredulous tone made Hermione flush.
"I was just wondering," She snapped defensively. "You don't have to get snippy."
She stomped ahead a few steps and as a result didn't see the amused look on her walking companion's face. If she had there would have been no doubt that her face would have turned as red as the stripes on her tie. Draco was taller than Hermione and it only took a few long strides until he caught up with her.
"Do you have any ideas?"
Her face scrunched up, as it always did when she was concentrating or thinking hard, and she chewed absently on her lower lip.
"Costume ball?"
Draco looked reluctant in warming to Hermione's idea, "Aren't Halloween balls always masquerades?"
"Well, yeah." Hermione shrugged admittedly, "But that's what makes it a tradition. Besides -- do you have another idea?"
Draco had to admit that he had none -- much to Hermione's visible satisfaction. He let out a whine that sounded a lot like; "But everyone does that..." Hermione started to giggle, but one look at his putout expression made Hermione want to lift his mood.
"But...I know that you're never satisfied doing just 'what everyone else does'. For that matter, neither am I...
"And I do realize that everyone in every possible place, world, dimension, and reality makes their Halloween Balls into masquerades, but that's the tradition of Halloween -- to become something you're not...it's a chance to escape." Her voice had become soft and rich.
He looked up in surprise at her earnest tone.
'So I promise that this ball will be as original and unique as it is in my power to make it -- in every possible way."
Draco continued to walk in silence. Hermione anxiously hurried to keep up. She scanned his face for any sign of reaction to her heart-felt words, but it was completely blank. She had just begun to think that he had resorted to a Malfoy's reaction to emotion when he finally opened his mouth.
"I think all years should be allowed to come..."
Hermione's heart swelled. He hadn't withdrawn! She grinned and he returned it. The two then fell into an easy and comfortable discussion about the Halloween Ball they were to be preparing.
Of course Hannah and Padme will help, Hermione thought to herself. And the Heads, Meghan and Adam -- I'm sure they'll be helping too. Though, she glanced over at Draco, they're opinions won't count for much.
Besides, she knew that together she and Draco would come up with such a wonderful plan that the others would completely fall in love with it.
"I agree," She said aloud; her mental words already fading to the back of her mind. "I mean Snape did say that the balls were merely a distraction for the students."
"And that includes all the students." He added, "Everyone could use the distraction -- Merlin knows I could."
Hermione nodded emphatically, "If only there was something sooner to distract me from training." She paused. "No...not training. I have to be able to save the world and all." She added jokingly.
They both shared a small laugh at this, though neither one of them seemed too keen to be on that specific topic.
"I'd much rather be distracted from after-training. I'm constantly sore and I'm sure that I'm no fun to be around either." Hermione gave a sigh, "School has only be in session two and a half weeks and already I'm going to bed every night weary and tired and during the day I'm in mortal peril."
Draco gave a half-smile, "Looks like you've broken Potter's record by a landslide."
"I think it should be outside," Hermione mused switching quickly and easily back to the previous topic. Draco floundered only a moment before continuing the conversation with much more enthusiasm than he had exhibited only moments before.
They reached the prefect's portrait, a large gray wolf sitting on snowy grounds, after a few minutes more talk. Draco whispered the password and the door swung open. The sound of their voices as they clambered inside echoed faintly through the empty castle.
Shuffling footsteps made their way briskly away and down the corridor, though the owner could not be seen by the half-awake, yet curious, portraits lining the castle wall.
Then they too faded away. The torches, in their metal brackets, flickered and then went out -- having no one left to illuminate the hallways for -- and the stone castle was plunged into darkness.
"How long have you been here?"
Hermione didn't spare a glance at her Swordsmaster as he entered the room. She was concentrating on maintaining the flow of power into her long sword that made it cackle with eerie blue flames.
A death eater appeared in front of her and she sent her blade whirling through his neck before he could raise his wand. With a sickening noise the head slid off the shoulders, but before it could hit the floor both head and body vanished in a cloud of green smoke.
"I'm not sure." She answered evasively.
A curse was spoken behind her and she whirled around to face another death eater. She brought her sword up in a guarding motion. The spell hit the flat of her blade and was instantly absorbed with a snapping sound. The sword vibrated. The tremors shot down her arms and spread outward until her whole body was shaking. Sweat beaded on her brow and trickled down her face. Her coral lips were pressed into a thin line as she struggled against an invisible force. Her sword began to spark.
"Shit!"
The flames dancing along her sword exploded but Hermione was at no risk of being engulfed because at that same moment a sudden power shot out of her weapon and she was flung into a wall. Her sword clattered to the ground and the fire vanished leaving it normal steel.
"Pause simulation." Snape walked past a frozen death eater and helped Hermione to her feet. She thanked him quickly and walked over to her discarded weapon. Snape noticed that she was favoring her left foot and his frown deepened.
"Miss Granger. How long have you been here?" He repeated.
Hermione sighed and bent to retrieve her sword. "Since four..." She whispered, scowling ruefully at her reflection in the steel.
Snape was so shocked he didn't answer for a moment. Summoning up his courage at lecturing the young woman he walked over to her and gave her his best sneer. "It may have been a long time ago, Miss Granger, but I do remember being a teenager. However, I never remembering waking up at four AM on a Saturday to do extra work."
Hermione sensed the reproach in his tone and flushed.
"What are you doing here? We don't have a lesson today, and I would have thought you would be with Mister Malfoy as you two are so often seen in each other's company as of late..."
Hermione fiddled nervously with the hilt of the sword; "I was trying to change the magic." She said quietly.
Snape's black eyes darted from her to the sword and then back again. "You obviously weren't successful. I told you to reflect only."
"I know Professor, I just thought--"
"Try again."
Hermione blinked back her surprise, "E-Excuse me, sir?"
Snape gestured to the immobile death eaters, "Try again -- That is...if you think you can do it."
Her amber eyes turned from her smirking professor to the sword in her hand. Taking a deep breath she swung the huge sword into the air and assumed the standard fighting position Snape had taught her.
"Resume simulation." Snape ordered as he backed out of Hermione's way.
Knowing that Snape wanted to see her try and change the magic again, but knowing also that he secretly didn't want her to do it right away she attacked the first two death eaters with agile ferocity; cutting them down. Another one appeared alongside her and she reflected its spell first before leaping at it and, with a scream of adrenaline, slicing it down the middle.
When the next enemy appeared directly in front of her she was ready. The curse hit her blade soundly and she slid her feet outwards to stable herself. As with the other dozen times she had tried this, the vibrations traveled throughout her body. The spell may have been simulated, but the energy was real and she felt it flood through her in waves.
She began to sweat as she tried to call up her power to change the energy. Changing the energy meant turning it into her own energy and storing it inside her with the rest of it -- sort of like giving herself an energy boost. But what she thought was simple in theory was more difficult making a reality.
The spell's energy was fighting back.
She opened her eyes slowly so that she could lock amber against obsidian. He looked neither concerned about her struggle nor caring about her in any sense.
Postvorta was wrong...
The energy pushed and she slid backwards a few feet. A cloud of dust and dirt was kicked up in the process.
The world doesn't love me...how could they?
She slid back even farther.
Not even the people who know me do. Snape doesn't even feel for me at all...doesn't believe...
Her back was pressed to the wall as the energy shoved at her for a third time. Her heart became so numb she couldn't even feel the sword in her hands. A chill ran through her. Seconds later it felt as if an icy hand had grabbed a hold of her heart. She gasped and flung her head upwards. The hand squeezed painfully and dug its nails inside her heart turning her gasp into a scream of anguish.
"Hermione!"
Snape was by her side. The sword slid from her numb fingers and clattered to the floor. Sliding to her knees she clutched desperately at her chest. "V-Voldemort..." She hissed. "I-It hurts..."
His large hands gripped her shoulders and shook her insistently, "Come on, Hermione. I can't help you..."
The energy continued to push at her...
Voldemort's disease continued to squeeze the life from her...
Her back was digging painfully into the wall behind her, the unchanged energy was clawing for a way out, the phantom hand continued to squeeze her heart, and Snape was shaking her so hard she thought her head would fall off. Too much was happening. She couldn't seem to focus on one thing.
"You're stronger than this Hermione...fight it!"
Hermione's head fell limply forward.
Snape fought down the panic that was welling up inside of him. "You can't let him take you down this easily. The world needs you."
Hermione never thought it would go down like this. Only a few hours before she had been eagerly planning the Halloween ball with Draco, and now she was struggling to separate one thought from another...one pain from another.
Draco...
"What about Harry and Ron, Hermione!" Snape was shouting now, "What about Draco?!"
"D-Draco?"
She had just raised her wand - ready to hex that damn book into oblivion when there was a low chuckle behind her. Someone reached over her and grabbed the object of her frustration. "I never thought I'd see the day Hermione Granger would draw her wand on one of her beloved books..."
"Draco!"
**
Hermione sighed, "All right. Maybe I'll explain it to you later?" She suggested to Draco holding the book across the front of her body.
He nodded and she gave him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek -- having to stand on her tiptoes to accomplish the second task.
"It's a date." His familiar smirk was back in place.
Hermione could feel her face flushing and she ducked her head in embarrassment.
**
Hermione allowed them to lead her away; her knuckles turning white from her fingers' death grip on the book. Glancing back over her shoulder her honey eyes locked with Draco's as he watched her go.
**
"Hermione..."
She froze.
"It's Draco."
She dropped the rag. In a panicky way she leapt at the phone and tried to cut off the message before her could continue, but Draco was already going on.
"Dumbledore owled me this after informing me of the new prefects for this year."
She let out an audible sigh of relief. Something school-related. There was a tapping on her window and she opened it quickly. A tawny owl, she immediately recognized as being one of the school's, shot through it and landed easily beside her sink.
"I don't know if you've gotten an owl from him yet, but I wanted to congratulate you, all the same. The prefects are supposed to meet on the train. Some of the teachers will be there to talk with us. I'll see you tomorrow."
**
"There's one flaw in your belief. I'm d--" Hermione hesitated and looked around at the people staring fixedly at her. This wasn't how she wanted to tell everyone. It had to come out sooner or later. "I'm dying."
There was a sharp inhalation of breath around the room; even from Dumbledore. She felt Draco stiffen beside her. Seeking out his hand she grabbed a hold of it quickly and intertwined her fingers with his. She squeezed it to reassure herself that there was someone with her.
The nymph glanced at their joined hands before she shook her head and her silky tendrils of hair rippled behind her, "You cannot die -- you are the Sovereign of Light."
**
"How can it be stopped?" Draco asked evenly.
The nymph turned slowly to face him. Her head cocked to one side as she studied him. Finally she spoke, "His magics are too powerful and too complex. They have already woven a web of death around her heart. When her strength gives out it will wrap around her and her heart will cease to beat."
"There must be something we can do," Draco insisted. The teachers were looking at him in surprise while Padme and Hannah were still trying to sort through the nymph's words. "You said it yourself -- you said she couldn't die."
"Silence human," She hissed dangerously. "Do you not think that I would do anything that I could if it meant saving her?! Do you not think that I would lay my life down in an instant if that could keep her from death's grasp?!"
She turned her head to face him again; "You would do the same........I can see it in your eyes -- I can feel it in your heart." She said in a calmer voice.
**
Her head was spinning, but one thing stood out clearly among the chaos. Draco's face. His blue-gray eyes were filled with emotion.
He believes in me...
She could hear his voice...
"You are the best person I have ever met. You're pretty, you're smart, you're funny, you're kind, sweet, innocent, stubborn, determined, clever, quick-witted, loyal, trustworthy, honest -- all these things and many more are what make you the person you are. Postvorta was right -- you are the only person strong enough to bring us through this battle. You are too stubborn and too intelligent to let yourself make a mistake. I know that you will stop at nothing until to you find a plan with the least amount of casualties. You have a beautiful soul and pure heart and there is nothing in this world that can stop you -- because you won't let anything stand in the way of saving the people you love. In fact.......I can't think of anyone I'd rather have lead me into battle.....then you."
A pinprick of light flickered deep inside her. It beckoned her, and it felt as if nothing else would matter if she could only touch that light. She reached out and grasped it.
Snape watched her head lift and her chestnut curls fall away from her face. Her amber eyes were like floodlights. The golden light bursting from them filled the room and made Snape let go of her so he could shield his eyes. The light became so bright that suddenly it exploded outward like a star going supernova.
When the spots finally cleared from Snape's vision he found Hermione to be completely change. Kneeling on the floor with her hands pressed to the ground Hermione's jeans and sweater had been exchanged for black silk. The flowing material swept up over one shoulder and back down pooling around her. Matching black ribbons laced up her legs from the sandals on her feet in a Grecian fashion. Something else caught his eye, but he thought his mind was playing tricks on him. Giant, gossamer wings seemed to sprout from her back.
Hermione looked up at him and just...blinked. Her eyes were clear and golden, but they no longer shone. Her features were no longer lined with pain, and the sudden change in her entire being made Snape's jaw drop open. Hermione smiled at him and sat back comfortably on her heels.
"Professor," She beamed. "What are you doing here?"
Dun dun duuuuuunn! Hope you liked it!
Read and Review!
I don't know when I'll have the next chapter out. Hopefully, I'll get one done before Friday because that's the day I leave for Milwaukee with a friend. If I have time, I'll work on a chapter while I'm out there and post it when I get back.
KissThis!