CHAPTER FOUR: THE SEARCH
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. No money is being made by the... aherm... "production"(?) of this story. It is merely a piece of fan fiction of Harry Potter. And, of course, everyone knows who the real author is: J.K. Rowling.
A/N: Okay, how did you like that last chapter? Intriguing? I hope so. Hope you liked it because I have to be totally honest... I hate making rated R fanfics! They're really... blech. Anyway, even if I am not enjoying it (sadly, I only realized I hated writing rated R fanfics in the middle of the story), I hope you are...!
Dedications:
Chosen Girl: I've also been really busy! Sorry if this chapter is late... we had lots of exams, quizzes, requirements, etc. these past few weeks. Anyway, we just finished our exams so here I am, writing again! I told you it would be out before Christmas! And so will the next chapter… it'll be like a Christmas present, right? That'll be my present to you. It sucks, I know but… it's better than nothing, right? :D
Harry and Ron were sitting in the Gryffindor common room. They were the only ones left there apart from Neville, who had fallen asleep in front of the fire.
The two were worried. It was already close to eleven o'clock, and Hermione still hadn't showed up. Ron had suggested that they go look for her, in case Draco had done something to her but Harry quickly drew that idea aside. He said that they'd wait for about fifteen more minutes.
At around 10:50, the two boys heard a noise outside the common room door. Someone was knocking. But the sound was so faint that if the common room hadn't been almost completely empty, neither Harry nor Ron would hear it.
"Let's open it." Harry told Ron. "It could be Hermione. She must've lost the password or something..."
Ron followed Harry toward the portrait hole, a look of doubt etched on his face.
Harry opened the hole and the two Gryffindors were surprised to see Malfoy there, his head was bowed down, covering his face. But was surprised them the most was that his clothes were disheveled and ripped. Almost is whole body was completely covered in soil.
Nonetheless, this did nothing to tame Harry and Ron's disliking of him. "What doyou want, Malfoy?" Ron asked as he pushed him roughly aside so he and Harry could climb out of Gryffindor Tower.
Malfoy stumbled backward and fell to the floor. Harry gasped when he caught a glimpse of Malfoy's face. Ron just stared.
The typical glare was there, but Harry figured that was only caused by Ron's shove. Malfoy had a bruise on one cheek, and there was dried blood at the corner of his mouth. But the worst were his split lip, and a long gash running down from his ear up to his chin.
Malfoy glared at them and stood back up, but soon his expression changed into a shameful one, and he hid his face behind his curtain of hair again. "What are you two looking at?" He tried to sound nasty, but it was obvious he was slightly ashamed and frightened.
Harry and Ron saw that the rest of Malfoy's body was covered in scratches, and a few buttons had come loose from his shirt, exposing the bottom part of his stomach, which had a few dark bruises.
"What happened to you?" Harry asked, gently, but he still had a hint of resentment in his voice.
"Nothing..." Malfoy replied. "I just need to talk to you two..."
"What do you mean 'nothing'?" Harry asked. "And where's Hermione."
"That's what I came to tell you," Malfoy said, finally turning his beaten face toward them. "She's missing."
"What?" Harry and Ron asked in unison.
"How can she be missing?" Ron asked. "Didn't she meet you beside the Dark Forest?"
"She did," Malfoy said. "And we finished the hedges, but... afterwards... I heard someone take her. When I went to follow the noise, some guy... uh... well, you know..."
"Some guy what?" Harry asked.
"Isn't it obvious by the way I look?" Malfoy asked irritably.
"Well, what did he do to Hermione?" Ron asked.
"I dunno," Malfoy said sarcastically. "Kidnapped her?"
"Why would anyone want to kidnap Hermione?" Harry asked.
"I don't know." Malfoy replied.
"Why are you concerned, Malfoy?" Harry asked. "I thought you 'hated the filthy little Mudblood'."
"Events and happenings beyond your concern have happened..." Malfoy started. "And that's why I'm telling you she's missing."
"So you're not gonna help us look for her?" Harry asked, sneering at him. "You scared?"
"God, no." Malfoy said, unaffected. "I was gonna help you, but then you had to bring up that unfortunate incident when I called her a Mudblood so... I'll be on my way. If someone sees me like this, they're gonna ask questions, and I hate it when they ask questions." Malfoy started to walk away.
"Well, it's not like we need the slime ball's help." Ron muttered, loud enough for Malfoy to hear. Malfoy took no notice, and just kept walking away.
"Yes we do." Harry muttered back softly. "Malfoy!" he called, "You have to come with us. You're the only one who knows where she disappeared."
Malfoy stopped abruptly in his tracks and wheeled around. "I told you already... behind the hedges."
"Which hedges?" Harry asked impatiently, he was getting tired of Malfoy. " You have to take us to the exact spot where you stopped looking for her."
Malfoy sighed. "Fine..." he said, rolling his eyes. "But I doubt we're gonna find her. It's been quite a while since I left her there."
"Why didn't you just go on looking?" Ron asked, following Harry and Malfoy as they went down the stairs.
"Well, it's kind of hard to actually see anything if you're eyes are closed, and you can't open them." Malfoy replied.
"Are you telling me you fainted?" Ron asked, unable to hide his glee. "And to think you actually teased Harry about fainting."
"Well 'Harry' wasn't beaten up, was he?" Malfoy shot back, turning around to glare at Ron. "And why the hell do you keep on ragging on me, if you're asking for my help?"
"Alright, you two!" Harry yelled, his voice echoed around the hall.
The three stopped abruptly.
"I'm sick and tired of you quarrelling all the time! Will you just please shut up for a minute...?" Harry glared at them both.
There were a few moments of silence, and then Malfoy turned on his heel and proceeded with leading Harry and Ron to the spot where he had last seen Hermione.
When they were already slightly into the deep of the Dark Forest, Harry told Malfoy and Ron to search for clues as to where Hermione's kidnapper could have taken her.
"I thought I was only to lead you two to the spot where I last saw her?" Malfoy said.
"Yeah..." Ron agreed.
"Well," Harry said. "Much as I hate to admit it, we actually need you, Malfoy. You're the only one here who knows as least a handful of dark magic."
"I do no--" Malfoy cut himself off, thinking. "Fine."
"Okay." Harry said. "And you two should stop fighting. Jesus, it's driving me crazy!"
The three searched for any sign of where Hermione could have disappeared to, but found nothing but broken branches and ripped up leaves.
"Hey," Malfoy said. "There's only one side of these bushes that have wrecked up leaves."
"Yeah?" Ron asked. "So what're you saying?"
"I'm saying, Weasley." Malfoy explained. "That Her--Granger could have been taken this way."
"Okay, let's go." Harry said, leading the way.
After a few minutes of walking in silence, Harry spotted something up ahead. "Hey, you guys... there's some sort of--of cave over there!"
The three quickened their pace and finally reached the cave. After searching it thoroughly, they found nothing.
"I don't think that guy wouldn't have just left her in a cave." Ron said. "I mean… this one's so easy to find."
"Yeah..." Harry said, thinking as he stared into the depths of the cave. "Wait a second. There's a piece of paper over there!"
"Where?" Malfoy asked, looking to where Harry was pointing.
Harry went over and picked it up, then showed it to the two. It was folded into two, and said: "CLUE."
"Clue?" Malfoy asked. "Why would he leave a clue?"
"Maybe he wants a ransom?" Harry suggested, unfolding the piece of paper.
It said:
Inn here leaks with potions dire
Potions held above a fire
Inn this cauldron you can find
Too few rooms you've left behind
Inn depths of London it was found
When you were running from the Hound
A/N: Okay… what did you think of this chapter? I'm not sure if the clue was too obvious, but I hope it wasn't! Because I'm not really very good at making riddles so… could you please please please tell me what you think the clue means? You'll find out if you're right in the next chapter anyway, and I want to know if I'm any good at making "unbreakable" riddles… Oh, and if there's some glitch, and you can't go to the next chapter using the arrows or drop down menu, just change the last number of the URL (4) into a 5 and press enter.