Love and Hate
Dedicated to;
Lockhart'll sign anything if it stands still long enough.
-Ron Weasley-
-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!-
Draco woke up earlier than usual, butterflies fluttering around nervously in his stomach. Today was the day he was going home. He was going to see his father, a murderer, again. And he was bringing to him, his number two victims.
He gathered his things and went downstairs where he saw Hermione running around frantically. He longed to turn invisible so that he could've watched her when suddenly he realized that Hermione didn't know how to become invisible. Draco rushed toward her but before he could say anything, words spilled out of her mouth.
"Draco! Thank goodness you're awake! Do you realize that it's already 7:30!? There's so much to do! I can't believe that I'm so far- What is it?" She snapped at him. He had poked her to get her attention.
"I kinda forgot to teach you how to become invisible."
"Is that all? I've known how to do that since Christmas. Disapirosis."
She tapped her head with her wand and vanished. He could see right through her. He really wanted to reach out his hand and see if she was still there. Someone said another spell and she reappeared. She smiled for a split second before ranting around again.
He decided to slip out of the common room in case she trampled him. Besides, he needed some breakfast before he left. Who knew what kind of dangers he could get in?
As he walked into the Great Hall, a few heads turned his way but he ignored them. He made his way over to the Slytherin table and took his usual seat between Crabbe and Goyle. They were stuffing themselves with food, although they didn't need to. Their stomachs bulged over the pants and their faces were round and chubby.
Draco quickly finished his breakfast, realizing how late it already was. He ran out of the Great Hall and went into Dumbledore's office, where Hermione was waiting. The way she looked, Draco figured she didn't take much time to look in the mirror.
"Hermione…have you looked in a mirror yet?" He asked.
"Wha-?" She began before Dumbledore walked into the room. In his hand he held a bright green ball.
"This is the portkey that will take you into the woods just outside of Malfoy Manor. I trust that you two are ready?" They both nodded. "Then, hurry and take this. Good luck to both of you." They reached out and grabbed the ball and felt that familiar feeling of being sent far, far away.
&&&
Hermione landed on something soft. She looked down and realized that she was sitting on Draco and quickly stood up. Brushing off the dirt on her skirt, she looked around. There was nothing but trees. It was a miracle if you knew the way out.
Draco stood up and also brushed off the dirt on his shirt. He looked around and began walking in one direction. Hermione had no idea if he knew what he was doing but followed him anyway.
They walked into the darkness, with no sign of an exit. He kept on walking though, with Hermione close behind. After an hour of walking, she gave up and plopped down onto the dirt. Draco noticed and turned around, quirking up an eyebrow.
"We're lost aren't we?" She asked.
"Err…no. Of course not. Malfoy's don't get lost…Alright, we're lost." He finally said. They sat in the silence for a bit before Hermione asked what direction his house faced.
"North."
She grinned and pulled out her wand. "Point me." Her wand spun around and faced the right of her. "Let's go." She grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the right hand side. He obviously was confused so Hermione carefully explained it to him.
"The spell I just said makes my wand point north." He nodded his head and they continued their walk in silence.
After a couple of hours of walking, Hermione could see a light in the distance. She began to jog towards it, as the it grew brighter and brighter. Soon, she broke out into a full sprint but Draco easily caught up to her. No words were needed to explain what was going on but they kept on running, never taking a break.
Soon, they reached they edge of the forest. It was mid morning still and the sun was shining high above them, beating down on their heads. They cautiously moved closer to the manor, keeping an eye out for anybody watching them.
Hermione glanced at the manor and the only word she could find to describe it was big. It wasn't at all what she imagined it to be. In her mind, the manor resembled a muggle haunted house, with a grey cloud hovering over it and lightening streaking the sky. She had expected to see bats flying out of broken windows and tattered shutters.
Instead, she saw a gorgeous house, resembling one that a muggle millionaire would live in. It was nothing short of magnificent. It was made of red brick, giving it an old world feel. Green ivy was growing down along the walls. There were countless balconies, all of which were surrounded by detailed black fences. It was nothing she had expected it to be.
She stood there gazing at the marvelous house until Draco nudged her and they went even closer to the house. She followed him past statues and past flower beds, past towering trees and through a door.
The inside of the house wasn't anything she had imagined either, although that was expected. They were in what looked like a kitchen. Warm lighting flooded the room, and another door on her left-hand side held the heading HOUSE ELVES. She supposed that, that was where the house elves lived.
He led her out of the kitchen into the corridor and pulled close to him. For a split second, she was sure that he was going to kiss her but she was proven wrong when he began to speak in a hushed voice.
"Listen, once we turn invisible the only way we can make sure where the other is by keeping in touch. Just follow me and everything will be fine. The only place Snape could be is down in the dungeons. When we get down there, try not to say anything or make any noise. It's a lot different from the rest of the house." She nodded. "Here, take my hand. Disapirosis." Hermione grabbed his hand and disappeared herself.
It was rather odd to look down at your hand and see right through it. It was even more odd to feel someone else's hand holding yours but you can't see it either. It was strange indeed.
Hermione made sure that her hand was in Draco's at all times. They walked down the hallway, making sure that their footsteps wouldn't be heard. They then turned to the stairs and they walked down it. Draco opened the door and Hermione found herself in another fantastic room.
There were portraits up on the wall of what seemed to be deceased Malfoys. She could see a portrait of Narcissa Malfoy, smiling sweetly out of her picture and she could've sworn that she winked at her. She shook her head and followed Draco out of the room.
The door revealed a room that was by far the grandest room she had ever seen. Chandeliers hung from the high ceiling, glittering brightly. The room mostly white; white couches, a white coffee table, a white grand piano. But the thing that caught her attention the most, was a glass fountain in the middle of the room. The water sprayed gracefully out of a beautiful dragon's mouth. It's tail made up the tub it was in. Long spikes were pointed upward of the tail.
Surprisingly, Draco walked over toward the fountain and picked a spike that seemed to have been broken before and fixed. There was a long crack running from the tip down to the base. She watched as the spike turned a deep green color and suddenly the fountain sank into the ground. Fighting the urge to gasp, she watched as a staircase appeared. There was a tug from Draco and she was pulled down the stairs into something else she didn't expect.
Whereas the entire Malfoy house was elegant, clean and generally well decorated, the room she was in now was the complete opposite. The stone floor was wet and looked like it hadn't been cleaned in ages. The stone walls were also wet, and had some sort of green slime on it. There were cells lined up against the wall. The ones in sight were empty. Draco pulled her farther down the hallway. Her eyes darted from left to right, wishing with all her hear that Snape was ok. She had seen enough horror movies to know what could've happened.
They continued to walk down the hallway for what seemed like hours until Draco stopped abruptly. Hermione covered her mouth with her free hand as she gasped. Snape had been kidnapped by Lucius. He was lying unconscious on the stone floor, sprawled out.
She heard the lock click and figured that Draco had either the keys or his wand. They slowly opened the door, hoping that it wouldn't squeak but it did. They ran in and hurriedly tried to wake up their professor by shaking him, nudging him and hitting him. It didn't work.
Hermione felt hot breath in her ears and heard the recognizable voice of Draco. "I'm going to turn him invisible and then we're going to carry him out of here alright? Try not to make any noise."
She nodded but of course he didn't see it. She watched as the man in front of her disappeared and she bent down to pick him up. Since he was invisible, it was tough to figure out where exactly her hands should go. Her hands missed twice before she actually felt something that resembled a head. She carefully picked it up and waited until she felt that weight lighten. They began to walk out of the cell when they saw a flash of blonde come in. Hermione looked around helplessly but kept on walking. She stopped when the blonde hair walked nearer to her.
Panic. That was what she was doing. Lucius kept on walking, his eyes ablaze, his mouth grinning insanely. 'Could he see invisible people? Did he hear us? Oh no, he's getting closer! What am I supposed to do?'
Lucius walked nearer and nearer and stopped a few feet away from them. His grin widened as he looked not at Hermione, not even at Snape but as he looked at his son. Confused, Hermione looked over at him and saw that Draco's hand had been revealed. Obviously someone would've been highly suspicious if they saw a floating hand.
"Repisatoris."
She watched in horror as Draco reappeared again. There was no look of panic or horror on his face, which surprised her. Had it been her, she would've been near tears now.
"Draco, my son. What brings you here? How did you get in?" Lucius asked.
Draco smirked. "Do I now need a reason to come back to the place I grew up in?"
"Of course not. But it is the middle of the day and surely you have classes."
Draco merely stared back at him.
"Why don't you put your arms down." It was an order, not a request. And he did.
It took all of Hermione's strength to not let Snape hit the ground with a loud thud. However, she should've just dropped him because after another spell, Snape was visible too. She immediately dropped his head and stepped backward.
"Ah. Now this is interesting." Lucius walked over to the greasy haired man and gave him a kick in the head. He didn't budge. Still out cold. He turned his attention onto Draco. "You come home as you skip school without no apparent reason and I see you trying to break my prisoner out of his cell."
Draco just smirked. His father looked furious.
"Why you little son of a - CRUCIO!"
Hermione squeaked as she saw the jet of light hit Draco squarely in the chest. He doubled over but didn't cry out at all. Lucius kept his wand held in his arm, never stopping. After a short period of time, Draco's head snapped up. His normally mysterious silver eyes were ablaze with anger as he glared at his father. With all the strength he could muster, he stood up, straight and proud.
"I am no son of yours."
Lucius' eyes widened and he dropped his wand. He walked slowly over to his son, staring at him in disbelief. Then, out of nowhere, his fist made contact with Draco's jaw. He fell backward onto the stone floor. Lucius bent down and picked up both Draco and Snape and looked directly at Hermione. She stopped breathing for a minute until he left the dungeons. Once she made sure that no one was around she sighed and said, "Great. Now what am I supposed to do?" But there was no question what she had to do. She had to go save both Snape and Draco. To top things off, she had no idea how to get herself around the house.
She was sure that Lucius would be wandering the halls, keeping a look out for anyone else. Then she didn't have a clue to where Draco could've been. 'Men! Cant take care of themselves.'
Hermione hurriedly got her thoughts back together and began creeping toward the dungeon door. Thankfully, the door had been left unlocked and she slipped out quietly. She walked up the stairs and left the room. The first thing she did was to check herself and renewed her invisibility spell. Then, she raced up the stairs, hoping that she was going in the right direction.
She turned the corner and was met by a long hallway, with at least ten doors on either side. 'Great. This is fantastic.' She ran to the first door and opened it, keeping her eyes closed. She let out a breath when she saw that it was just a very plain and ordinary bathroom.
Walking out, she looked down the corridor and chose the next door. That turned out to be a room full of paintings. This continued until she reached a very handsomely polished oak door. Her hand reached out to turn the silver handle. Behind the door, laid an elegant room, decorated in deep greens and mysterious silvers. Somehow, she had managed to stumble upon Draco's room.
There was a canopy bed placed in the corner. Beside that was a wooden desk, with a lamp shining brightly upon it. But, as in the previous rooms, one thing caught her attention and drew her closer toward it. A large dresser was backed up on a wall. There was a mirror, reflecting everything in the room but of course she couldn't see herself. On it, pictures of a family were waving and smiling happily out of their silver frames. Hermione couldn't help but notice that as the young boy in the picture grew older, his expression became more forced.
She opened the drawer and pulled out a few papers. The papers turned out to be photos of herself, eating in the Great Hall, studying in the library, brewing a potion or just talking to Harry and Ron.
"So are you the girl he talks about all the time? The one he's got pictures of?" A clear voice rang through the room.
Hermione dropped the picture of herself. Her head spun wildly around, trying to find out the source of the voice. When she couldn't see anyone, she nervously said, "Who-who's there?"
"No need to worry dear. I can see all, and I can hear all. I am the mirror." She didn't believe it but nodded her head nonetheless. If somebody wanted to play that game, she'd play along with them.
"Those are excellent photographs aren't they?" The same voice rang out.
"Yes." She breathed. "They are lovely." She placed them delicately back into their original position and pulled out an emerald encrusted box. She opened it and a scroll fell out of it, sealed tightly. Unrolling it, she saw that it was just a bit of parchment, the letters MM on it. However it wasn't like Draco to have something like this without it actually meaning something...
"If I may interrupt. I believe he taps his wand on it and says er - let me out."
For some strange reason, she believed she could trust the mirror and pulled out her wand. Whispering the incantation, she watched as ink began to rise out of the paper, making what was obviously a map. Dots labeled with names walked around on it. Why it was a version of the Marauder's Map!
She looked eagerly around the map for their names but to her dismay, they were nowhere to be found. Looking helplessly at the mirror, she asked why they weren't on there.
"I hate to tell you this dear but he hasn't exactly finished it yet..." It's voice trailed off. Her jaw dropped to the floor. She hoped that this was a joke, a cruel mirror's joke.
"You are kidding right?" She asked, chuckling a little bit.
"Afraid not."
She didn't say anything back to it, because she thought if she opened her mouth, angry words that she didn't mean would come spilling out of it. Stuffing the parchment into her pocket, she stomped out of the room.
Once out of the room, she pulled out the map and stared at it, willing it to magically finish itself. When it didn't, she let out a cry of frustration but quickly covered her a mouth. She realized that someone had heard her when a house elf cautiously walked out from behind a statue, its eyes opened wide in fear. It stared around, trying to identify where that noise had come from. When it saw the map floating there, it let out a high-pitched squeak.
Footsteps could be heard coming toward them and Hermione hid behind the nearest statue. The footsteps belonged to a Lucius Malfoy. He walked over to the house elf, whose eyes were still wide open. A wavering hand was pointed exactly where Hermione had been a few minutes ago.
Lucius had a look of pure disgust on his face as he talked to the elf.
"What are you doing here?"
" Master! There is someone in here!" He kicked the elf.
"There is no one here you idiot. Get back to work or you'll end up like your brother Dobby!"
"Y-yes sir."
As soon as Lucius had left, the elf began to wail and started to hit itself. Hermione shut her eyes, trying to block out the images of the elf injuring itself. However, if this was Dobbys brother…
"Excuse me."
The elf stopped crying and looked around nervously. "Who is there?"
She cleared her throat and his head spun and looked at her. Well, looked at the map is more like it. "My name is Hermione Granger. I'm a friend of Dobby."
"Miss knows where Dobby is? Miss must tell Lonny!"
"H-he's at Hogwarts." She stammered.
Lonny nodded. "Lonny will show you where Master is." The house elf began to leave. Hermione stared at him before running after, the map lying forgotten at the foot of the statue.
&&&
Somewhere in Malfoy Manor, two men were sitting in a dimly lit room, discussing their plans in hushed voices.
"…then he'll kill her. He'll have no choice."
A blonde haired man nodded and his lips twisted into an evil grin. "Yes, but are you sure the mudblood will look for him?" A greasy haired man nodded back.
"You haven't seen them around school. Besides, she's a mudblood Gryffindor. They are too dim to know when they are walking straight into a trap. We can't fail. I'm sure she's already on her way to this room. That stupid house elf would have shown her how to get here already. She thinks that Lonny is helping her." He laughed. "I do believe I hear footsteps Lucius. Shall we get ready?"
"Of course. Let's begin our plans."
A younger blonde haired boy was beginning to wake up in the corner…
&&&
"Lonny, are you sure this is the right way?" Hermione asked uneasily.
The elf nodded again. "Lonny is sure! Master is in there right now! Now Lonny is leaving. Bye Miss!"
Perhaps if Hermione wasn't paying so much attention to the door in front of her, she may have noticed that the elf didn't punish itself once along the way. She pulled out her wand and muttered an appearing spell. Suddenly, she could see her hands, robes and wand. Quietly, she opened the door and found the shock of her life. It was a small room, almost closet sized. Two men were standing in front of her, one having blonde hair and piercing grey eyes, the other having greasy hair and small, black, beady eyes. Both were smiling at her and holding onto the arms of a younger boy, who was almost the exact replica of his father.
"Miss Granger. How nice of you to join us. If you'll just wait a moment, our other guest should be awakening any moment now." Lucius said.
Draco indeed was waking up, his eyes groggy and distant. He looked around, muttering words that none of them could hear before abruptly pulling himself out of their grasp. He failed miserably.
"Now, now Draco. You surely don't want to leave now do you? Not before you hear what we are offering you. It's something you've been dying to do. Now, I'm willing to admit that I am a death eater. I'm sure your mudblood friend here knew that. Severus here was and still is a death eater, I'm sure you know that as well. After all, you are head boy. Severus is luckier than most. He has been vouched by Albus Dumbledore to have changed. The Ministry trusts him. Dumbledore trusts him. The old fool would go to any lengths to save him. So, together, under the orders of Voldermort, we began to form a plan. He would come here, pretending to be kidnapped. Dumbledore would fear the worst had happened to his potion's master and send my son to come save him. However, we did not expect that the mudblood would come along as well. We feared that it would interfere with our plans. Luckily, she played to our advantage. So my son. Today will be a magnificent day. Today, Draco Malfoy enters the rank of the death eaters."
Lucius' cold eyes looked into Draco's. Suddenly, Draco began to grab his arm, howling in pain. Then he stopped and nervously pulled up the sleeves of his robe. When he saw what was there, he closed his eyes for a moment before looking at his father.
"What have you done?"
Lucius laughed. "What have I done? What have I done! Why Draco, I have bestowed upon you a wonderful gift! The Dark Mark is now on your arms. Of course, this is only temporary. The Dark Lord will decide if you are worthy enough to join his death eaters. This is where the mudblood comes in. The Dark Lord believes that you must prove that you are ready to rid the world of scum like her." He gave Draco a sword.
Hermione collapsed onto the floor in a heap of tears. She was going to die and there was nothing she could do about it.
"And what if I choose not to?" He asked bravely.
"Then you will both die a slow and painful death." Snape replied calmly.
"Do it now, or I will kill you." Lucius said coolly, playing with the sword. When he didn't do anything, Lucius picked Hermione up and pointed the sword at her throat. Her eyes grew wide and fearful as he pulled the sword farther back, ready to attack. She looked at Draco and prayed that he would help her.
Draco suddenly pulled out his wand and made graceful movements with it. At last an ice blue line appeared at the end of the wand and went straight through Hermione's small and helpless body. She stared at him in shock before falling backward onto the stone.
Lucius dropped the sword and cautiously bent down to look at her. He muttered a few words to himself as he placed his fingers on her wrist, as if checking for a pulse. He then waved his wand over her and a soft blue light emitted from the top. Then he stood up and looked at Draco.
"Well done. I knew you wouldn't let me down son." Lucius walked over to Draco and Snape and they walked out of the room, leaving Hermione lying on the cold stone floor.
-Author's Notes-
Whoo hoo! Long chapter! But I'm so sorry it took so long! I was in Chicago then I had to finish it at home and I thought I had lost but then I found it…it was all really hectic.
A big thanks to Croaker, my beta! Of course, a very special thank you to;
HorseMaster1, Stardrops, CassandraTheEvil, Jomai, Regina-Terrae, KittyOfWonder,Jbanana, Relena333, CrikChick321, Potts, and Emily and Jessica.
This chapter is dedicated to Emily and Jessica. Much love to you two.