Meddling With Dragons
Chapter 3 – Everything Your Father Ever Wanted
Disclaimer – I don't own any of the recognisable characters or places. They are all owned by the wonderful J.K Rowling.
Hermione rolled over in her sleep and muttered something under her breath as if she were dreaming...
The woman, who had been running from the Death Eaters before, was now in a large circular room, kneeling down on a large mat. The walls were made of black stone, and a few torches on the wall and a blazing fire in the fireplace lit the room. In front of the fire sat a large red chair. And in that chair sat a man. A man with deathly pale skin and abnormally long fingers. A man that could almost scare you to death - just by looking at you.
"Where's the child?" He's icy, cold voice echoed around the room. The woman shivered but dare not move. She stayed silent.
"Where is it?" Voldemort repeated raising his voice. The woman remained silent. Voldemort slowly stood up and turned around.
The woman let out a blood-curling scream and fell in a heap to the floor.
At this exact same time, Hermione Granger awoke with a gasp. Beads of sweat rolled down her flushed face and she breathed heavily. She wiped the sweat of her forehead as she sat up in her bed. Her hands were shaking and she was trembling all over. She felt hot on the outside but freezing cold on the inside, as if ice had spread through her body.
Suddenly she realised that she was not in her own bed but instead in the hospital wing. It took her a moment to remember what had happened.
That potion. Why did it make me drowsy? Hermione thought. All of a sudden, Madam Pomfrey came flying into the room from her office. Her hair was all ruffled up and her robes askew.
"Dear, are you alright? I heard you gasping from my room," Madam Pomfrey exclaimed.
"I-"Madam Pomfrey gasped.
"You're so red in the face dear! I think you may have a temperature! Here take this." Once again Madam Pomfrey shoved some vile tasting liquid into Hermione's mouth. This one was a light shade of blue. Immediately Hermione felt herself cool down.
"There, there. Do you feel a little better now?" Madam Pomfrey coaxed.
"Yes, a little," Hermione murmured, screwing up her face.
"Don't worry dear. You'll be better in no time," Madam Pomfrey added cheerfully. "Call me if you need anything." As she went to leave the room Hermione called her back.
"Madam Pomfrey," Hermione called after her. The nurse turned back around with great speed.
"Yes?" She asked.
"When can I leave?" Hermione asked.
"When you're better dear. Maybe tomorrow," Madam Pomfrey said and left the room. Hermione sighed in frustration.
Tomorrow?! Hermione thought exasperatedly.
Hermione woke up the next morning feeling a whole lot better. At around ten o'clock she called Madam Pomfrey and asked if she could leave.
"Yes," Madam Pomfrey said causing Hermione's face to light up, "after I do a few tests, give you some more potion..." Hermione's face fell immediately and Madam Pomfrey trailed off.
"At least take some chocolate dearie and make sure you rest!" Madam Pomfrey offered kindly, digging into her robes and bring out a large block of chocolate. Hermione broke out in a smile.
"Thanks Madam Pomfrey!" Hermione exclaimed, feeling glad to be leaving. She pulled the curtains around her bed and quickly got dressed. Then she quickly exited the Hospital Wing, nibbling on a piece of chocolate. By now it was around ten thirty, so everyone would be in class. She decided to go to the Gryffindor Common Room and maybe do some homework.
But when she reached the common room she remembered she had completed all her homework. Hermione sighed and collapsed on the couch.
"What the hell am I going to do now?" Hermione thought aloud. She sat there for a few moments, thinking. She gazed up at the clock over the fire-place and saw that it was now ten thirty five. Time was definitely going slow today.
Hermione decided that there was no way she was going to wait for almost an hour an a half for lunch so she ran upstairs, grabbed her books and headed for her Herbology class with the Slytherin's.
She hurried off across the empty grounds, not really in a hurry to get to class. It was a nice warm day and the sun was shining brightly high in the air. The Giant Squid was lazily tracing circles in the water with its tentacles and a small flock of birds flew in from over the forest.
Hermione smiled, wishing the weather reflected how she felt. She was happy to be out of the hospital wing but she was also worried about a few things. The dreams for example. And the potion. The only sleeping draughts Madam Pomfrey has in the Hospital Wing are Dreamless Sleep potions. Hermione wondered about this for a while.
What else could it have been? Hermione thought. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear someone calling out her name, or the sound of them running to catch up with her. She only noticed it when they were
Hermione gasped in surprise. "Malfoy?! You scared the hell out of me!" Hermione exclaimed. For a moment she just stared at him, taking in all his features from the smirk playing on his lips to his polished black shoes. There was something wrong with this picture.
Was is something about his hair? No, no. Just as blonde as usual: a little messier maybe. His robes? Just the normal school ones. Maybe he- Oh! Hermione suddenly realised what it was and almost cursed herself for being so stupid.
"Hold on ..." Hermione started,"... aren't you supposed to be in Herbology?" Draco looked at her blankly for a moment, obviously not expecting that question.
"Oh ... ah, yeah. I guess so," Draco replied awkwardly. This was followed by a rather pregnant pause.
"Well," Hermione said finally, "you're a bit late." Hermione eyes his robes and his hair for a moment. The clasp on his robe wasn't done up properly and his hair was askew. Draco shuffled his feet but held her gaze.
"I had somewhere I had to be," Draco said confidently.
"It was so important you had to skip class?" Hermione asked skeptically. Draco opened his mouth to answer but a shrill screeching filled the air.
"Drakie!? Oh Drakie, why didn't you wait for me?" Hermione looked over to her left and saw Pansy running towards them. Hermione looked back over and Draco, arching an eyebrow questioningly, a small smirk on her face.
"Somewhere you had to be, hey?" Hermione mocked him, the corners of her mouth slowly creeping up. Draco said nothing, and a moment later Pansy reached them.
"Drakie why didn't you – oh! Why are you talking to the Mudblood?" She spat out the word disgustedly. Hermione glared at her watching as Pansy slid her arm around Draco's waist and nuzzled into his shoulder.
"Some people can actually converse with others without ending up in a broom cupboard somwhere, Parkinson," Hermione retorted nastily before beginning to turn around. However, Hermione's plans of going anywhere were cut short when a hand grabbed her arm.
"Don't you dare insult Pansy-"That was all Hermione heard before the real world suddenly disappeared.
Infront of her was a conglomeration of men in robes of black, their faces masked with white. They stood in a silent circle, unmoving, like statues. A slightly shorter man stood in the middle of the circle accompanied by a tall white-faced man, draped in black, staring at the boy in front of him with red slits.
Voldemort reached his hand forward and his long, slender white fingers grasped the mask hiding the boys face and pulled it off. Blonde hair fell into the boys face, hiding his grey eyes; he didn't dare brush it away.
Voldemort pulled the sleeve of the boys robe up and pointed his wand at the boys forearm. The blonde boy braced himself just before Voldemort said the incantation that would change his life forever.
"Morsmordre!"
Hermione wrenched her arm away from Draco's with a small scream. Her eyes opened wide in shock and her mouth agape, she pointed at Draco in terror. Draco and Pansy stared at Hermione as though she were mad.
"Y-You... y-you're a-a..." Hermione stuttered, stumbling backwards. Draco's brow creased, but the expression on his face did not change. He clearly thought Hermione was going crazy.
"I'm a what, Granger?" Draco asked cooly, taking a small step forward. Hermione screamed and moved away from him so quickly she stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, her books scattering around her. Draco eyes widened questioningly, frowning slightly.
"What am I, Granger?" Draco repeated, raising his voice and unable to keep the curiousity out of his tone. She stared at him disbelievingly, her bottom lip trembling and her whole body shaking. What she said next was almost inaudiable, missed by Pansy and only just caught by Draco.
"Everything your father ever wanted," she said in a menacing whisper, her eyes narrowed and cold. Then she ran. She scooped up her books, shakily got up off the ground, and ran back towards the castle.
Draco Malfoy. A Death Eater. The rumours went around all the time and Hermione had heard them many times before. But hearing it, or rather, seeing the truth for herself was overwhelming. That's the thing with rumours – no one ever takes them seriously. When it is confirmed, however, the feeling is much, much different.
Hermione wondered how many Muggles and innocent Wizards Malfoy was going to kill – or how many he had had to kill already!
Hermione felt nauseous, sick. She wished she hadn't had left the Hospital Wing now. Hermione dug her hand into her robes and grabbed out the block of chocolate Madam Pomfrey had given her. She broke off a small piece and shoved it in her mouth. Immediately she felt calmer and more refreshed.
She stopped running as soon as she was inside the Entrance Hall and began to walk up to Gryffindor Tower. As soon as she reached her dormitory she collapsed onto her bed, robes and all.
Why am I having all these visions? Hermione thought miserably. What did I do wrong? I don't want them, I hate them! Make them stop, make them stop, make them stop!!!
Hermione fell into a dreamless sleep soon after collapsing on her bed and when she awoke around four hours later, she felt much better. It was three o'clock now so classes would soon be over. Hermione decided to try and regulate things for her a bit, so she grabbed a book and headed down to the Common Room.
Sitting down on the couch closest to the fire, Hermione began to read. Fifteen minutes later, Gryffindors began filing inside and eventually Ron and Harry emerged. They walked straight over to her. Ron seemed to have forced Harry to come along, because Harry just stood there looking anywhere but at Hermione.
"How are you feeling, Mione?" Ron asked. Hermione looked up and smiled at him, ignoring Harry completely.
"Fine thanks, Ron. I got out of the Hospital Wing earlier this morning. Madam Pomfrey says I'm all fine, I'll just have to rest for a few days," Hermione told him.
"We miss you in class, Hermione, didn't we Harry?" Ron nudged Harry in the ribs.
"Yeah, not the same without you," Harry said with a forced smile. Hermione's gaze flicked over to him for a moment before turnign her attention to Ron.
"Thanks," she said shortly. "Did you get any homework for me?" Ron and Harry exchanged glances.
"Well... not exactly," Ron said uneasily. Hermione frowned slightly.
"What do you mean?" She asked. Ron shuffled his feet.
"Well, Snape gave us a message to give to you. He wants to see you in his office as soon as you are out of the Hospital Wing," Ron informed her.
"Oh," Hermione replied blankly. After a pause she continued. "Well, better get it over and done with." She quickly said goodbye to Ron and made her way down to the dungeons. Hermione refused to let her mind wonder why Snape would want to see her, so she mentally blocked all her thoughts.
Hermione knocked three times on the door to Snape's office and after hearing some shuffling inside, the door was thrown open.
"What?!" Snape barked. Hermione jumped back in surprise. "Oh, Granger, come in." Hermione nervously entered his office and took a seat infront of his desk, waiting patiently for him to sit down. She gazed over at the cupboards she had taken so long to clean out the night before.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" Hermione asked as he took his seat behind the desk. Snape leaned his elbows on the desk, his cruel eyes piercing into Hermione's.
"When I set tasks, Granger, I expect them to be completed," Snape began coolly. "Last night I set you a detention to clean out my office, supervised by Mr Malfoy. I have been informed by Madam Pomfrey and Mr Malfoy that you had a small accident and could not complete the said set task.
"Just because you fainted, Miss Granger, does not allow you to leave your detention and tasks quite incomplete. I am setting another detention, tonight, same time, same place, same supervisor. Don't be late."
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