Love and Hate
By Tennisplaya278
The spiders… they want me to tap dance!
- Rupert Grint; Ronald Weasley -
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban-
-Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue, I don't own Harry Potter and neither do you. Bananas are yellow, tomatoes are red, stop reading this and read my story instead!-
Hermione had set her gift aside, too nervous to open it. She glanced at her bed that seemed to be calling her name. As she laid down on the soft mattress, her eyes began to close and soon she was in a peaceful slumber.
That is until she felt an all too familiar pain on her foot. It felt as though she had hit her toe on something hard, but that was impossible. There was nothing hard near her and her foot was laying peacefully on the mattress. There was something wrong.
She couldn't keep her thoughts because the pain never ceased. She tried to make it stop but nothing worked. In the end, she could only hold back the tears as her foot's pain became better.
She sighed. There was no use of trying to sleep again. Her head turned to look at the unwrapped gift on her dresser. Was it safe to open it? Somehow, she didn't seem to worry about it and grabbed the present. She untied the ribbon and pulled back the wrapper to reveal two books. One was a book on wandless magic, one that she was sure Dumbledore could use. She moved that book aside and glanced at the book. There, before her eyes, was the first edition of Hogwarts: A History. She ran her fingers over the leather spine before cracking it open. The sweet smell of an old book filled her room and she began to read. She would have to remember to thank Draco later.
&&&
Draco woke up the next morning, feeling a little more cheerful than usual. Yesterday was brilliant. If Hermione could tolerate him for one day, couldn't she do it forever?
He walked over to his dresser, taking a few things to the bathroom. He noticed Hermione's letter with another envelope hidden underneath. Confused, Draco picked it and opened it.
Mr. Malfoy,
As we are heading into the second war, I fear for your safety. (Draco recognized the handwriting. It was Dumbledore.) You are one of the main targets for Death Eaters and Voldermort himself the moment you refused to become one. To help you, classes taught by Professors McGonnagal and Snape will be helping you defend yourself. The first meeting will be on February 15th, after dinner in the Transfiguration room.
-Headmaster
Dumbledore
So, that was what Hermione was talking about. It was true that he had turned down being a death eater. In the end, he decided to go see what this was all about and figure out who was invited. Naturally, the golden trio would be called but as to anyone else, he had no clue.
He had the rest of the day before the meeting and he was bored beyond belief. So, he decided to spend his time in the library. There was nothing like cracking open an old book to decipher its secrets. Perhaps he would even see Hermione there.
Thinking about Hermione brought back memories from the night before. Everything was a blur to him. One minute he was on his way to Hogsmede and the next, Hermione was giving him a kiss and running away. It wasn't really a kiss though. It was just a peck on the cheek. That didn't change his thoughts. Draco believed Hermione was falling for him, just like he fell for her.
Grinning, Draco made his way to the library. It was going smoothly until he got to the stairs. Standing in front of him was a 7th year boy with spiked brown hair and empty hazel eyes. It was Blaise Zambini.
"Move out of the way Zambini."
The boy took a dangerous step closer and smirked. "I don't think I will.
"Yes, you will. I'm not in the mood. I won't regret it if I curse you." Draco pulled out his wand.
"No need to get violent. I just want to talk about your new mudblood friend."
Draco glared. "Shut up Zambini and move."
Blaise laughed. It was cold and short. "I see I've touched a nerve. I expected more from you, being a Malfoy and all. Don't you know how lucky you are? Any kid would die to be a Malfoy! But you go off and disgrace yourself by being with a mudblood. Not just any mudblood, a Gryffindor, know-it-all, Potter's friend, mudblo-" He never managed to get the entire word out because Draco pointed his wand at Blaise's throat.
"Finish that word and I'll curse you."
Blaise stared at him with his cold eyes. "Mud. Blood."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Draco yelled out, "Sufficotus!" and Blaise began trying to take deep gasps of air. No oxygen came in though. His face began to change colors, first from red then to blue then to purple. He began to clutch his throat and his eyes were starting to look distant. That is until Draco muttered the counter curse, "Revolos Oxocondus." Blaise took a shuddering gasp and looked at Draco.
"You'll be sorry you ever did this Malfoy," Draco snorted. "The Dark Lord will rise again and I'll make sure you are the first to go. I'd do it now but my master says to keep an eye on you." Blaise stared at him and stated, "No matter where you are or what you're doing, remember that someone will always be watching."
&&&
Something Blaise had said, triggered something in Draco's memory. He was searching the shelves for a book that he couldn't remember the name of. All he knew, was that it was important. Every once in a while, he would glance nervously around but he saw nobody. Not a single soul was in the library.
Strange.
He ignored it and continued to look for the book. What was it called? All he could remember about it was that he found it when searching for a potion, hence why he was in the potion's section. But what was it? He reached into his pocket, fumbling around for his wand when he felt something different. He pulled it out. It was a piece of parchment.
Draco opened it. The paper had neat writing on it, and it didn't have a wrinkle or tear in it at all. Something wasn't right. A minute ago, Draco saw the paper crumpled up in a ball. There was no way it could've done that. He decided to test out his theory. He picked up the paper and tore it in half. In the moment he blinked, the parchment went back together to form one perfect piece.
Odd.
Then, he set it on fire. He watched as the paper burned in the flames and he could see it turn black. The flames grew larger and larger until they threatened to set his hair on fire. Finally, he stopped to inspect what happened but the parchment was still the same, with no burn marks on it.
Weird.
Draco gave up. He had just realized that he hadn't even read what was on the parchment yet. He smoothed it out, (which wasn't necessary, it was just a habit) and grimaced when he realized what it was.
It was a page from the book he had been looking for all along. It was a page that held a secret, a terrible secret that Draco needed to share with the world to keep it safe.
On the top of the page, the words Potion of Fate was written. It was a potion unlike any other. It could make the drinker immortal. That was what Voldermort was after. Immortality.
He reread it again and again and decided to research the potion. Voldermort already had a fang of a basilisk. The only other known ingredients were the horn of a golden unicorn, and the feather of an angel bird.
Draco knew about golden unicorns. They were very rare. Most of the time, unicorns were white and silver. Sometimes however, a unicorn will grow up but instead of it turning silver, it will turn gold. A golden unicorn is said to be the king of all. It's horn possesses a large quantity of magic, some not even wizards knew about.
He also knew about angel birds. They were also incredibly rare. Only one had been spotted in the past millennium and still, people were skeptical. Angel birds were completely white, with long, silky feathers. They can soar high above the clouds. One feather is said to contain enough magic to destroy a small city, but it takes a very powerful wizard to unlock its potential, or even obtain such a thing.
But Voldermort was a powerful wizard.
He feared for the innocent lives of people if Voldermort ever made this potion. He feared for the destruction of the world he knew. But thing he feared the most wasn't what Voldermort was going to do to him. No, Draco feared for Hermione's life and her safety. And that was another reason why he had to go to Dumbledore's class.
&&&
Draco walked into the classroom where his lesson was going to take place. Only one person was there and it was someone Draco didn't expect to see. Draco's sharp eyes could see the body of Neville shaking in the corner. He smirked.
"Get up Longbottom. I'm not going to hex you."
At that moment, the door flew open and the golden trio came in, talking and laughing. Draco rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long night. The door opened again and this time Dean came in the room, looking very confused. Everyone else was also confused too but let it go.
Over a period of time, three people came in. They included Ginny, Luna and Jolie. All three were laughing together as well. In a few moments after that, McGonnagall and Snape came in. Snape's eyes were darting back and forth, observing them.
"You have been invited to join this class because Dumbledore fears that you will be some of the biggest targets for death eaters. I-"
She was interrupted by someone raising their hand. Surprisingly, it wasn't Hermione. It was Dean.
"Professor, I can understand why everyone else is here but why am I here?"
McGonngall gave him a sorry look. Her eyes softened and her voice quieted down. Snape looked away, pity written on his face.
"My dear, you don't know do you?"
Dean looked very confused. "Know what?"
"Where is your father, Mr. Thomas?"
"Well, I haven't heard from him in ages actually. He's in France, working for the Ministry. Why?"
McGonnagall put her hand on his shoulder and almost whispered, "Dean, your father is gone."
He didn't understand. "Yes, I know. In France."
"No Dean. He was killed by death eaters."
Dean's eyes became very distant and all the color drained from his face. He managed to choke out the words, "For how long?"
Snape answered this one. "For almost three years now."
Draco looked over to the rest of the group that had fell silent. Every face held the same emotion. Confusion.
Dean took a moment to compose himself before saying brightly, "C'mon. Let's get started."
Snape was the first to recover. (No surprise there.) "Alright. This class is like an extra Defense Against the Dark Arts Class. You will learn spells, curses and hexes and how to protect yourselves. You will also learn strategy."
"How about we start out with some easy ones to test your knowledge." It was McGonnagall.
So, they began firing disarming spells, stunning spells, summoning spells, reductor spells until the two Professors finally gave them a break. They were only 15 minutes into the lesson.
They sat down and had a drink of water. Draco took a long drink and wiped his mouth when suddenly-
AHHH!
Ron had jumped backward and landed on Hermione was yelling at him. Draco felt a pain in stomach but had no idea how it happened. Perhaps it hurt because he was laughing so hard. Apparently, Ron saw a spider and jumped. Now the two of them were yelling at each other, trying to make the other apologize. At first it was funny but then it just got plain annoying. And the worse part was that the Professors seemed to be enjoying it. Draco sighed.
It was going to be a really long night.
-Author's Notes-
HOLY COW! I HAVE MORE THAN 100 REVIEWS!!!!!!!!!!!
So, next time I update, expect a super, gigantous, really long, chapter! Sorry I didn't do it this time, but I felt I have kept you waiting for far too long. Besides, next chapter is the 15! THE 15!! WHOA!
This chapter is dedicated to the following reviewers who have been with me for a long time:
CCBChunks, CassandraTheEvil, Stardrops, Jbanana, Horsemaster1, KittyOfWonder, Elfaghetti, Emily and Jessica.
SCHOOL'S OUT! Which is good news for you guys because the chapters will be written faster!
Thanks:
Totally A Blue Hermione: Ok, I'll watch out for it. Thanks for the review!
CCBChunks: No, he wouldn't. That's why I put, 'Put it on my tab.' Sugarquill.net…I'll try it. Just for you! Thanks for reviewing!
WeluvweKR: Um…ideas for your story. Well, it'd probably help if I read it first right? So, I'll be sure to do that. Thanks for the review!
Stardrops: I hope you liked the movie! Happy Sweet Sixteen! I still have a couple more years to go…hehe. Thanks for the review!
Jbanana: Yeah, I definatly agree with you. Thanks for the reivew!
CassandraTheEvil: Hah. Your chapters are long enough as it is! Sevvy…whoooo. Anyways, thanks for reviewing!
Regina-Terrae: Thanks for the review!
Draco-And-Jack-Lover: Yes, I definatly agree with you on the movie! Muchos Gracias for the review!
Potts: I did! Thanks for reviewing!
Horsemaster1: I agree with you as well! Thanks for the review!
Crickchick321: Eh. You're right. I'll be sure to do that in the later chapters. For now, just let them be. Thanks for the review!
Laughing Girl: Muchos Gracias!
KittyOfWonder: I'm glad it made you smile. Your review made me smile. Thanks for the review.
Emily and Jessica: Wow. That's the only word I can think of for your idea. Are you serious?! That's sweet! Thanks for the review! And I am definatly going to end up with Tom…hah. Yeah right.
Elfaghetti: Thanks for reviewing!
Thank you guys so much!