AN:Okay, that took long enough, I had a writer's block. Well it's all cleared up and I'm so looking forward to writing the rest of the chapters. So sorry for the delay. The next chapter will be up next Wednesday. I hope. Let's see how much school work I have...just projects. Geography, Philosophy, Literature, Science and Research studies. I am so screwed. Anyone out there who specializes in the cultivation of orchids please contact me since we need to come up with a plan of how the whole farm, if you might call it that is arranged.That's for geog. Oh yeah and please drop me your opinions of Capital Punishments I really need it for Philo. Lit I can manage, so what about science. Well since it's just a four page report, I'll finish it tonight. Research studies, Drop me your opinion on this.
"Stereotyping of students from top secondary schools causes many detrimental effects such as elitist mindset and depression." Please leave your opinion. It stretches across the year and my group and I have most of it covered except for interviews and surveys. God I'm hopeless. I'm asking for your help in my homework. Never mind. I am so bogged down I need all the help I can get. You don't even have to help, just leave a review and brighten my day. Make me feel more motivated. Ok sorry for that unnecissarily long author's note. On with the story:
"Fine work of Wandless Magic Miss Granger, but...you might want to lift it, or I'll have to punish you," Dumbledore said his eyes regaining some of its twinkle and a smile forming on his lips. The look that he had on his face was gone, replaced by the one that Hermione was used to.
"But how?" Hermione questioned unsure of what to do.
"Just...do what you did..." Dumbledore said dreamily, but Hermione knew about that voice well enough. He had used it on Harry many a time and it was usually used when he was testing someone, challenging someone to push past their limits. Harry had told her about the tricks Dumbledore had under his sleeve having been a victim to them ever since their first year.
Hermione concentrated hard but unfortunately the sight of Malfoy being chased around the room with a teaspoon on his tail was entirely amusing. She watched through her half closed eyes (She had to at least look as though she was following Dumbledore's instructions) and saw that the teaspoon was still repeatedly thumping itself on his head and he was getting increasingly frustrated.
She knew that she would get it a million times worse later on but at that very moment it seemed as though the consequences were worth what she was witnessing. Deciding that she may as well try to stop the teaspoon, she closed her eyes and thought of the spoon, concentrating on the spoon, she mentally told it to leave Malfoy alone.
There was a soft clank behind her and when she opened her eyes, she saw that the spoon had flew across the room and landed in the mug on Dumbledore's table.
"Professor...I didn't know...I didn't mean to..." Hermione stuttered as she stared in awe at what she had done. When she looked around her and she finally realized what it was that she found amiss. She was hovering a few feet above the ground and her legs were dangling uselessly.
Malfoy stared at her as she began floating up; it was as though she was defying gravity itself. Her hair fanned out behind her and she seemed to be glowing. She looked...passably decent.
Being a Malfoy, this was a huge compliment. He nearly lost control and let his surprise show but thankfully caught himself and pasted a look of extreme displeasure on his face.
Dumbledore too was stuck. He knew that Ella had warned him about the telekinesis and knew that that power on its own was immense and usually made a wizard or witch faint with fatigue after using it. Even he himself had to practice for years, decades even to master the art. His brother Abe too was skilled in wandless magic, though it wasn't telekinesis.
Another student who he had suspected to have possessed such a power was Harry Potter but alas, he had a gut feeling about it. Something he could never tell the world. Something he would have to keep a secret from Harry until the time was right.
Hermione stared below her. Even though she had only risen a few feet, she was feeling faint. It was as though the fatigue was getting to her, even though her fear of heights did have something to do with it. She felt the temptation of unconsciousness calling to her. Its dark fingers caressed the back of her mind, slowly lulling her into slumber.
Suddenly she dropped. She dropped so sharply that neither Dumbledore nor Malfoy could catch her. Thankfully she came to a rest somewhere a meter and half off the ground, though he her head was lulling dangerously and her legs were bent in what seemed to be an extremely uncomfortable situation.
She hung limply in the air and both Dumbledore and Malfoy were too shocked to move. Finally Malfoy regained his senses. His feelings were conflicted so he couldn't decide what to do.
Dumbledore had expected that she would drop but unfortunately it was too quick for him to do anything about it. He saw her freeze a certain height above the ground and it was as though she had lost control of all her limbs and she hung limply. He would have made a move to help her but decided that it was a good time for Malfoy to help her.
He himself couldn't understand how she had managed to stop falling even though she was unconscious, or seemed to be. He pretended to be in shock as he contemplated what it was that stopped her. "Could it be...No it is impossible? She can't be..." was exactly what was running through his mind at that very moment.
How could Dumbledore the most renowned wizards in time be in shock for so long. Knowing Dumbledore, it was most probably a ploy to get him to be friends with the filthy mudblood. He decided he may as well do something about it instead of letting her stay hanging limply in the air for so long.
Pulling his wand out of his robe pocket, he muttered a simple spell that he had learned in his first year, "Wingardium Leviosa." He levitated her to the couch, making sure that she hit her head against the couch hard. He had of course not forgotten about her pulling one over him in front of the head master.
He had assumed that she would back off, after he had threatened her, but unfortunately she was not going to make it any easier for him. Dumbledore finally snapped out of whatever trance it was that he was in and rushed to Hermione's side.
Malfoy leaned against the wall and coolly regarded them as the head master made sure that Hermione had suffered no pressing injuries. Her hair was fanned out behind her and kept rising every time she breathed out. He noticed that the glow was slowly ebbing away and her finger twitched.
Suddenly, a head popped up at the fireplace of the office. "Dumbledore, you are needed emergently at the ministry, we have caught a few death eaters and they are being held at trial. The minister requests that you are present," A pompous looking ministry official said.
He was wearing a bowler hat and Malfoy smiled to himself as he imagined the man flooing with a hat on. Even though the floo network had a lost and found office, not many people claimed things found there. He had been there once when his father had gone there to see the minister.
Draco had wandered into a room packed with queer odds and ends. Countless pairs of glasses, Umbrellas and even a rubber duck was found in the room that contained almost everything. He had whiled away the hours by amusing himself by calling out for obscure objects only to find that they came rushing in his direction.
"Well...this is a rather bad time Anthony but I guess that I have to put the welfare of my students in my first priority," Dumbledore commented.
"Dumbledore you must go! You won't imagine who it is. It's Bill Weasley Dumbledore, Bill Weasley!" the man commented.
Dumbledore for one of the few times in his life was caught off guard. "Bill Weasley?" he inquired in a light tone so as to not let on that it had taken him by surprise. The official nodded.
"Well it looks like I have no choice but to take these two. You will come with me Mr. Malfoy and take care of Miss Granger's needs as I might be caught up with things there, Oh yes and you will not mention this to anyone as your position of head boy and enrollment on this school is at stake here," Dumbledore said adding the last bit in a rather threatening note.
He didn't usually resort to using threats, instead choosing to trust someone. Unfortunately, he could trust a giant, a werewolf and yet he could not trust his own student. Yet considering whom it was, he had every reason not to.
Draco Malfoy had been elected head boy as he was to only one suitable for the position and Dumbledore was not very bothered to put up with yet another visit from Lucius Malfoy inquiring none to subtly why his son was not elected head boy. At these trying times all his energies were focused into defeating Voldemort and thus he didn't want yet another problem on his plate.
Sure he didn't seem the type who shied away from problems but at the very moment, when the whole wizarding world was in peril he felt that he would deal with first things first; In this case, Voldemort.
Malfoy was looking at him derisively but Dumbledore knew that he should ignore him. He hoped that Malfoy would rise to the challenge and actually treat Miss Granger well by looking past their differences but at that time he felt himself give up on something for the first time in his life.
He had seen Hermione's hatred for Malfoy in her eyes and he knew with hate that passionate, it would be of no use completely to get them to treat each other civilly. "Mr. Malfoy. You will take care of Miss Granger and you will be held responsible for her well being. If anything untoward happens..." Dumbledore said trailing of, deciding to leave it up to Malfoy's imagination to come up with the punishments he would get.
Malfoy rolled his eyes and looked heaven wards, wondering how he had sinned in his past life to deserve this. Realizing it was best not to anger the head master when he was in such a mood, he nodded but at the same time made it clear that he was doing it only out of necessity.
Dumbledore was surprised that the boy had given in without a fight. Hermione's groan broke the silence and both of them turned to look at her. She was still lying motionless on the couch but she had made a noise and her fingers were moving.
"For the first time using wandless magic, that was definitely a fast recovery. Usually the people are knocked out for a day or more but she for a mere few minutes," Dumbledore muttered to himself.
Malfoy too was shocked. He had witnessed Voldemort practicing wandless magic. His master himself had collapsed in front of them and been unconscious for a whole day just for moving a glass across the table. He had been sworn to secrecy as no one should know that Voldemort had been unable to do something.
Hermione shuffled a bit and nearly shrieked from the pressure. It was as though every bone in her body was broken and her skin felt tight over her body. She tried to step up but collapsed on the floor in a heap.
"You don't seem to be fit for movement but nothing Fawkes here can't help," Dumbledore said and the phoenix flew and landed on top of Hermione. The little extra weight that the phoenix provided caused her to feel extreme pain and Hermione cried out.
Soon droplets of liquid were flowing down her body. It seemed as though her body was absorbing it and soon the pain faded into a background, becoming only a memory. She stood up but her legs were wobbly and she clutched around in search of something to hold onto. She grabbed something solid and steadied herself, getting used to the pull of gravity again.
Malfoy nearly pulled back when the filthy mudblood laid her hands on him, but the look the Dumbledore gave him made him stay put. He knew that if he moved and she fell he would be entirely at blame even as unfair as they were; he had to comply to his head master's rules.
Hermione steadied herself and looked to her left to see what it was that save her from her fall. She nearly gasped in shock when she realized that she had somehow managed to grab hold of Malfoy's shoulders. Immediately she let go but then she swayed on the spot before falling again.
Malfoy smirked at her and didn't even offer a hand to help. Hermione sighed with frustration and used the couch to pull herself up. She couldn't understand how she had forgotten how gravity felt and she had no idea what had happened. All she remembered was finding out that she was floating and then it seemed that everything had blacked out.
Finally, steadying herself by holding onto the table for her dear life she got used to being upright. "What happened? How am I able to do magic without a wand?" she asked petrified at what was happening. Malfoy smirked at her cruelly even though he himself was itching to know how she managed to do what Lord Voldemort himself was trying his best to achieve.
"Well Miss Granger, unfortunately I don't know for sure. In fact all I have are my theories. Now is not the right time for it, we have to go to the ministry for a trial..." he said trailing off, worried about how she would take the news.
"Who's on trail?" Hermione asked still not catching on that the news would affect her personally. She looked at Dumbledore questioningly and saw that the twinkle that was in his eyes earlier was gone, diminished, and lost in the depths of what seemed to be sadness.
"A filthy Weasley, mudblood! Wonder how much the dark lord paid him? He must have needed the money. They must be really poor judging from the dump they call home," Malfoy said spitefully coming out of the dark corner.
"You..." Hermione started before the news truly sunk in. "A Weasley!?" Hermione asked her voice tinted with confusion and pain. She looked pleadingly at Dumbledore as though wishing that he would assure her that Malfoy was lying, that a Weasley hadn't gone bad.
But Dumbledore wasn't looking at her. "We will have none of that cussing Mr. Malfoy. Detention of course and maybe we might have to call your parents in," Dumbledore said with a controlled voice. He wasn't easily angered but Malfoy had just managed to do just that. The young Malfoy stood glaring and smirking at Dumbledore, a feat only he could manage.
Feeling someone watching him from behind, he turned and saw the head in the fire looking at him with a pained expression. "You might want to hurry Dumbledore though I'm sure the Wizengamot wouldn't mind you waiting a while. I have to go, my knees are killing me," he said smiling reassuring at a shell shocked Hermione.
"Don't worry dear; ignore what your boyfriend said. Bill Weasley will most probably be cleared of all charges," he said. Hermione looked at him and suddenly was engulfed with a feeling of guilt.
"You're lying," she said blatantly her voice void of emotion. The man looked surprised but then passed it off as his expression giving him away. The evidence against Bill Weasley was extremely incriminating and the only reason they had not thrown him into Azkaban without a trial was because it was required.
"Well...um...er...I have to go," he said uncomfortably before disappearing.
"Professor, Please. Please tell me it's not true," Hermione pleaded weakly sinking to her knees. She had thought of the Weasleys as her other family, accepted the Weasley brothers as her own and Ginny as her sister. How could Bill have performed the ultimate betrayal not only to her but to Dumbledore, Harry, his own parents and god knew how many other people.
"Now, now Miss Granger, It isn't set in stone yet. We can help, but we must leave now," Dumbledore said trying to easy his student's distress.
Malfoy looked at her and wondered how she could feel so much for someone not even in her kin. He knew that he could care less if his father was convicted a death-eater. She watched as her sobs ceased and realized that even though she had stopped crying she was shuddering slightly, as though she was controlling her sobs.
Hermione looked up and saw Malfoy looking down at her and she felt a rage she never knew build up in her. She took her frustration and betrayal out on him by screaming, "You're happy now aren't you? You got what you wanted. You've ruined my life. I hate you," She said the last part in a hiss so that only Malfoy could here her.
It hit home hard, it wasn't as though he wanted her to like him. In fact he found her just a disgusting mudblood but the fact that someone could hate him with such intensity caused him to feel guilty.
"Look Granger...I'm..." he said before he caught himself. Malfoy's never apologized especially to mudbloods. "I'm afraid you can't blame your pathetic excuse of a life going wrong on me," he said completing his sentence.
A throat cleared behind them and Hermione realized that Dumbledore was behind them. "We best leave now," he said before picking up a pen with the alphabet D engraved intricately on it from his desk. "Portus," he muttered and it glowed a faint blue. "Well everyone please touch the portkey," he announced once the pen lost its momentary glow.
All of them leaned in and touched it with a finger and Hermione felt the now familiar feeling of a hook tugging at her navel. She bumped into Malfoy as they were being transported and even then he managed to give her a death glare. They landed and Hermione unfortunately landed unceremoniously on her back side.
Malfoy sniggered as she got up and dusted herself off. She had more important things to do than to get bothered by Malfoy. She followed Dumbledore to the information desk and saw and an extremely elegant and well dressed couple there. They were asking the witch at the counter about something or another. As she was behind them Hermione only caught sight of their backs.
But even from that she could tell by their posture and stance that they were extremely regal. The thing that had caught her attention was that the man spoke with a French accent and lapsed into French once in a while. The woman on the other hand had a mix of both American and French accents. She spoke with American slang and had to keep reminding her counter part to speak in French.
They were going on about a lion and a school and suddenly it struck Hermione that they might be talking about Hogwarts and Gryffindor but she had to deal with more pressing matters thus couldn't dawdle to help them.
"Let's go. I have everything sorted out," Dumbledore said and she turned to follow, completely forgetting about the couple, her mind filled with thoughts of the trial. It was about two in the afternoon by then and they had to be there by 2.10 which was when the trial started.
Quickly she hurried behind Dumbledore as the made their way to the dungeons that Hermione knew was only used for interrogating possible death- eaters.
They stepped into the elevator and since it was packed with people, Malfoy was pushed against here without any place to move. He smirked at her and sneered, "It's your dream come true isn't it?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and tried to move, only to be squashed against him more tightly. "Ugh," was exactly what was going through both their minds. Finally the crowd thinned out and there was more breathing space.
They were at the dungeon now and only the three of them were left in the elevator. They got off and walked to the court room. There Hermione saw a flash of blonde hair. It reminded her of Melissa and she felt her heart break for her newfound but close friend.
"Miss Granger, I have a favor to ask of you. You have to promise me that you don't breathe a word of this, even to Harry and Ron. Yes Ron too. It might be his brother but their parents will tell him when they feel the time is right. And oh yes, whatever the outcome of the trial, stand strong and don't lose control of your powers," Dumbledore told her, pulling her to a corner.
Hermione nodded, wordlessly as she knew that she would start crying if she opened her mouth. She walked over to a seat and sat on it, her eyes were glazed as she was in denial, and she couldn't believe that Bill had committed such a crime. It couldn't it? She felt doubt clouding over her.
"Mione' is that you?" a familiar voice asked. Hermione looked up to see Melissa. Her face was stained with dried tears and her eyes held a pain that Hermione couldn't comprehend. "Mel," she said in a dull voice before standing abruptly and hugging her with all her life's worth.
Mel started shuddering as she felt the sobs coming on. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she thought about the love of her life; the man of her dreams and the fact that she would never see him again after that very. Everyone she loved left her. Her mother had died, her father...well, he was just there but not for her and now Bill. Hermione rubbed her back gently and whispered that it would be alright.
Melissa knew it never would be. Too much had happened and she didn't know if she could live with herself once Bill was gone. She had...she had loved him. Mel pulled away from Hermione and thanked her. Hermione just nodded and Mel got a distinct feeling that Hermione too was holding back tears.
Malfoy looked across the room at them. He didn't recognize the blonde girl and was positive that he had never seen her before, but there was something familiar about her.
"Mr. Malfoy, have you seen Miss Granger?" Dumbledore said after he finished his conversation with the Minister of Magic. Following Malfoy's gaze, his eyes rested upon Hermione and...
Dumbledore was taken aback. Shocked to say the least. She had left him, telling him she didn't need his false love, yes that was what she had called it. She had claimed that he had no time for her but time for everyone else. The last thing she told him before slamming the door in his face was, "I never want to see you again!"
Memories that he kept locked at the back of his head threatened to resurface as he looked at her. Tear's prickled at his eyes as he felt the pain of someone who lost another dear to him, one of the only two people he truly loved. His heart broke when he saw her in tears, and he felt like going there and comforting her, taking her and keeping her safe from reality.
He felt the way any father would feel when seeing his daughter in tears, but he couldn't do anything but watch. He had lost the right to the day she walked out of the house telling him he knew nothing about fatherhood.
Mel felt someone's eyes on her. She looked up only to lock eyes with another pair. A pair somewhat similar to her's. Electric blue and probing. No one noticed but the father and daughter pair. Hermione was lost in her own thoughts and Draco was being pulled into a conversation with Fudge.
A lone tear slipped down Dumbledore's cheek and Mel broke the connection. How dare he? How dare he show his weakness when she had just about lot everything in her life. Her hate for him intensified and the only thing preventing her from leaving the room was that there was a huge possibility that today was the last glimpse she would get of Bill.
She hated her father. It wasn't anything he had done; in fact it was what he had not done. Ever since young she had to live in the shadow of his school of his students. It seemed that he spent every moment of his life with them but for his own daughter he never had a spare minute.
His family seemed to be second best and Melissa had always wondered if he hated her because he blamed her for his wife's, her mother's death. Her mother had died at childbirth and she never did find out if that was the reason why he shunned her. Closing her eyes and silently sending out a prayer to the gods she waited and finally heard the hammer knock on the table sharply and the Minister of Magic's sharp voice piercing through the now silent hall dungeon.
AN:Please read and review. Thanks.