A/N: Thankyou all my wonderful reviewers ! I was afraid that I would have lost you after my horrible lack of updates :X
Eniyou, you're right haha Hermione does faint alot ... actually lots of people faint in this story, now that you mention it. Ah well xD
---
I didn't feel myself lose consciousness, but when the blood stopped rushing in my ears, and I regained control over my body, I was back in the same old corridor, peering through the crack in the door.
I was looking into the outskirts of what appeared to be the forbidden forest. I only recognized parts of it, so I assumed it must have been on the other side of the grounds.
(A/N: Okay, so the spells of protection on Hogwarts probably do (hell, definitely do) stretch out that far, but we are just going to ignore that ...)
But it wasn't the forest that had captured my attention. I could see myself, or rather Peter Pettigrew morphed into myself, and Malfoy. The pair were headed, hand in hand, directly towards a knot of hooded and cloaked men, but Malfoy hadn't appeared to have noticed yet.
I wanted so badly to be able to warn him, but remembered how opening the door had caused the dream to end last time I had tried. Instead, I shouted as loud as I could through the crack;
"MALFOY!! DON'T GO THAT WAY!! TURN AROUND!! TURN BACK!! TURN BACK!!"
---
"TURN BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!"
I jolted upright, and found that everybody in Dumbledore's office was staring at me. I felt a trickle of sweat make it's way down my jaw, and brushed it away irritably.
"Dumbledore! I know where he is ... I saw him. There's dozens of them! We have to go and get him!"
"Slow down, Miss Granger. You say you saw Mr Malfoy?"
"You heard me! Theres ... there's death eaters. Dozens of them ... we have to hurry before they get him!"
Dumbledore's usually smiling face suddenly turned more business-like, and he grabbed my shoulder and shook it lightly.
"Where is he?"
"The forbidden forest, I think. The other side, not the one near Hagrid's hut" I pulled away from Dumbledore, and stood up shakily, and struggled to control my voice. "He was nearly there. If we don't hurry, it's going to be too l-late."
---
So it was that five minutes later found us flying above the forbidden forest, on brooms.
I was clinging to my broom, which I shared with Professor McGonagall, so tightly that my knuckles were turning white. I hated flying. However, the teachers needed me to show them the exact spot, in case the Death Eaters had somehow masked themselves.
It started to rain.
"There!" I called, hoping that I'd be heard above the wind and rain that was whipping in our faces. "Right below us! I CAN SEE THEM!"
The broom dipped sharply, and I closed my eyes and held on. We made a swift descent, and I jumped off the broom as soon as we hit the ground.
Directly in front of me stood about half a dozen dementors. The death eaters that were in my vision were now nowhere to be seen. I assumed they must have sensed us coming, and fled.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
I wheeled around to see half of the Hogwarts staff standing around me, all jumping off their brooms and yelling the same spell. I recognized it as the spell Harry had learned all those years ago to ward off dementors.
It wasn't until the dementors began to part and hover away that I noticed a figure kneeling in the middle of them all.
Malfoy.
He looked directly at me, his eyes filled with a mix of fear and hurt, before collapsing down into the grass.
Without thinking about the dementors that were still hovering nearby, I ran over to him. To my horror, he jerked away from me, and started to crawl feebly away.
"You" he croaked, his voice barely a whisper. "You ... brought me ... you ... I ... trusted ..."
He stared at me a moment more, his pale eyes indescribable, and then he fainted.
---
It was well after dark by the time Malfoy was safely bandaged and asleep in one of the hospital wing beds.
I was sitting on the bed beside his, watching him sleep. I suppose that Madame Pomfrey must have realised how worried I was, because she didn't try and make me leave.
His reaction to my running over to him had scared me. Did he honestly believe that I had lead him to the death eaters? He had said that he had trusted me. Was that why he had followed Pettigrew? Because he trusted me?
Either way, I was sure he didn't trust me anymore. And how could he? The same stunt could easily be pulled again, with use of a simple polyjuice potion. Would they try again?
Questions flooded my tired brain, and I absently lay down on the bed I was sitting on. It was extremely comfortable, and I was just drifting on the edge of sleep when ...
"Hermione? Are you awake?"
I opened one eye slowly, and saw a concerned Harry looking down at me. I stretched, and opened my other eye.
"I am now" I said, softly.
"Oh. Sorry. We ... we heard what happened."
My stomach did a flip-flop. Last time Malfoy had been kidnapped, it had been reasonably hushed. Malfoy had simply told people he had had a 'minor' quidditch accident, and they had left it at that, no doubt assuming he was too proud to tell them how bad the accident had really been, and what had happened.
This time, though ... half of the Hogwarts staff had flown into the distance halfway through the day looking for him. I guessed that kind of thing wouldn't take long to get around.
"Um. Yeah. What did you hear, exactly?"
Harry looked down at his feet, and didn't meet my eye.
"Well ... Pansy Parkinson wasn't exactly quiet when they found out Malfoy was missing. She, um ... she kind of suggested that he was off with you somewhere, actually."
My eyes widened, and instantly I wondered how many other people had heard this same story.
"And?" I asked, my voice coming out low and angry.
"And uh ... people kind of thought it was some kind of joke. Me and Ron went looking for you but we couldn't find you. Next thing we know, a whole lot of the teachers are flying off on brooms with you, into the forbidden forest. We kind of got the idea that something BIG was up ..."
"You got that right."
There was a silence. Harry met my eye after a moment, and I smiled weakly at him.
"So what actually-"
"I'm sorry, Harry. I'm really tired. I'll tell you two all about it tomorrow okay? I just ... I'm ... yeah. I'm really tired."
"Okay."
This was followed with another silence. I thought I had given Harry a sufficient hint that I wanted him to leave, but apparently not. I sighed.
"Where's Ron?" I asked, hoping that he would take the hint and go and look for him.
"Oh. Haven't you heard? He asked out with Lavender this afternoon. So I guess he's off somewhere with her. Didn't really want to go and look for him, if you know what I mean."
I nodded, slowly. So Ron was going out with Lavender? I felt a pang. I had been missing, nobody knew where I was, and he had taken the opportunity to ... ask out Lavender? That didn't seem like a very best-friend like thing to do.
Well, at least now I could honestly tell Malfoy that Ron didn't like me.
"He asked her out before the whole ... the whole Malfoy thing" Harry said, quietly, as if reading my thoughts.
"I figured" I replied, acting as though the thought had never crossed my mind.
"Well, I'd better go. It's almost curfew. You coming? Or can you stay in here?"
I glanced over at Malfoy's sleeping form. He was probably still upset with me, seeings how it appeared that I had lead him into the clutches of death eaters and dementors. It was probably best that I didn't stay, in case he woke up while I was asleep and freaked out or something.
"I'd better go. Madame Pomfrey probably doesn't want me to stay here, anyway."
Harry nodded, and we made our way in silence up to the Gryffindor common room.
I tried to ignore the pointed looks I got all along the way, and shuddered to think what kind of story everybody had about the happenings of that afternoon.
---
I didn't feel myself lose consciousness, but when the blood stopped rushing in my ears, and I regained control over my body, I was back in the same old corridor, peering through the crack in the door.
I was looking into the outskirts of what appeared to be the forbidden forest. I only recognized parts of it, so I assumed it must have been on the other side of the grounds.
(A/N: Okay, so the spells of protection on Hogwarts probably do (hell, definitely do) stretch out that far, but we are just going to ignore that ...)
But it wasn't the forest that had captured my attention. I could see myself, or rather Peter Pettigrew morphed into myself, and Malfoy. The pair were headed, hand in hand, directly towards a knot of hooded and cloaked men, but Malfoy hadn't appeared to have noticed yet.
I wanted so badly to be able to warn him, but remembered how opening the door had caused the dream to end last time I had tried. Instead, I shouted as loud as I could through the crack;
"MALFOY!! DON'T GO THAT WAY!! TURN AROUND!! TURN BACK!! TURN BACK!!"
---
"TURN BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!"
I jolted upright, and found that everybody in Dumbledore's office was staring at me. I felt a trickle of sweat make it's way down my jaw, and brushed it away irritably.
"Dumbledore! I know where he is ... I saw him. There's dozens of them! We have to go and get him!"
"Slow down, Miss Granger. You say you saw Mr Malfoy?"
"You heard me! Theres ... there's death eaters. Dozens of them ... we have to hurry before they get him!"
Dumbledore's usually smiling face suddenly turned more business-like, and he grabbed my shoulder and shook it lightly.
"Where is he?"
"The forbidden forest, I think. The other side, not the one near Hagrid's hut" I pulled away from Dumbledore, and stood up shakily, and struggled to control my voice. "He was nearly there. If we don't hurry, it's going to be too l-late."
---
So it was that five minutes later found us flying above the forbidden forest, on brooms.
I was clinging to my broom, which I shared with Professor McGonagall, so tightly that my knuckles were turning white. I hated flying. However, the teachers needed me to show them the exact spot, in case the Death Eaters had somehow masked themselves.
It started to rain.
"There!" I called, hoping that I'd be heard above the wind and rain that was whipping in our faces. "Right below us! I CAN SEE THEM!"
The broom dipped sharply, and I closed my eyes and held on. We made a swift descent, and I jumped off the broom as soon as we hit the ground.
Directly in front of me stood about half a dozen dementors. The death eaters that were in my vision were now nowhere to be seen. I assumed they must have sensed us coming, and fled.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
I wheeled around to see half of the Hogwarts staff standing around me, all jumping off their brooms and yelling the same spell. I recognized it as the spell Harry had learned all those years ago to ward off dementors.
It wasn't until the dementors began to part and hover away that I noticed a figure kneeling in the middle of them all.
Malfoy.
He looked directly at me, his eyes filled with a mix of fear and hurt, before collapsing down into the grass.
Without thinking about the dementors that were still hovering nearby, I ran over to him. To my horror, he jerked away from me, and started to crawl feebly away.
"You" he croaked, his voice barely a whisper. "You ... brought me ... you ... I ... trusted ..."
He stared at me a moment more, his pale eyes indescribable, and then he fainted.
---
It was well after dark by the time Malfoy was safely bandaged and asleep in one of the hospital wing beds.
I was sitting on the bed beside his, watching him sleep. I suppose that Madame Pomfrey must have realised how worried I was, because she didn't try and make me leave.
His reaction to my running over to him had scared me. Did he honestly believe that I had lead him to the death eaters? He had said that he had trusted me. Was that why he had followed Pettigrew? Because he trusted me?
Either way, I was sure he didn't trust me anymore. And how could he? The same stunt could easily be pulled again, with use of a simple polyjuice potion. Would they try again?
Questions flooded my tired brain, and I absently lay down on the bed I was sitting on. It was extremely comfortable, and I was just drifting on the edge of sleep when ...
"Hermione? Are you awake?"
I opened one eye slowly, and saw a concerned Harry looking down at me. I stretched, and opened my other eye.
"I am now" I said, softly.
"Oh. Sorry. We ... we heard what happened."
My stomach did a flip-flop. Last time Malfoy had been kidnapped, it had been reasonably hushed. Malfoy had simply told people he had had a 'minor' quidditch accident, and they had left it at that, no doubt assuming he was too proud to tell them how bad the accident had really been, and what had happened.
This time, though ... half of the Hogwarts staff had flown into the distance halfway through the day looking for him. I guessed that kind of thing wouldn't take long to get around.
"Um. Yeah. What did you hear, exactly?"
Harry looked down at his feet, and didn't meet my eye.
"Well ... Pansy Parkinson wasn't exactly quiet when they found out Malfoy was missing. She, um ... she kind of suggested that he was off with you somewhere, actually."
My eyes widened, and instantly I wondered how many other people had heard this same story.
"And?" I asked, my voice coming out low and angry.
"And uh ... people kind of thought it was some kind of joke. Me and Ron went looking for you but we couldn't find you. Next thing we know, a whole lot of the teachers are flying off on brooms with you, into the forbidden forest. We kind of got the idea that something BIG was up ..."
"You got that right."
There was a silence. Harry met my eye after a moment, and I smiled weakly at him.
"So what actually-"
"I'm sorry, Harry. I'm really tired. I'll tell you two all about it tomorrow okay? I just ... I'm ... yeah. I'm really tired."
"Okay."
This was followed with another silence. I thought I had given Harry a sufficient hint that I wanted him to leave, but apparently not. I sighed.
"Where's Ron?" I asked, hoping that he would take the hint and go and look for him.
"Oh. Haven't you heard? He asked out with Lavender this afternoon. So I guess he's off somewhere with her. Didn't really want to go and look for him, if you know what I mean."
I nodded, slowly. So Ron was going out with Lavender? I felt a pang. I had been missing, nobody knew where I was, and he had taken the opportunity to ... ask out Lavender? That didn't seem like a very best-friend like thing to do.
Well, at least now I could honestly tell Malfoy that Ron didn't like me.
"He asked her out before the whole ... the whole Malfoy thing" Harry said, quietly, as if reading my thoughts.
"I figured" I replied, acting as though the thought had never crossed my mind.
"Well, I'd better go. It's almost curfew. You coming? Or can you stay in here?"
I glanced over at Malfoy's sleeping form. He was probably still upset with me, seeings how it appeared that I had lead him into the clutches of death eaters and dementors. It was probably best that I didn't stay, in case he woke up while I was asleep and freaked out or something.
"I'd better go. Madame Pomfrey probably doesn't want me to stay here, anyway."
Harry nodded, and we made our way in silence up to the Gryffindor common room.
I tried to ignore the pointed looks I got all along the way, and shuddered to think what kind of story everybody had about the happenings of that afternoon.