Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter
Author's Note-I have a sort of long not at the end of this chapter. I want to thank my reviewers! It's thrilling to go into my e-mail and see that people have actually read and liked what I have written. This isn't my best chapter but I am excited about my next post. I think that now that I have this final stinky one I'll be able to squirt out great ones. I have the ideas stocked in my head; it was just how to get to those ideas that confused me. I apologize profusely that I didn't get this up when I said I would. Now, here's chapter 14:
Chapter 14
"What iss the meaning of thisssss?" Voldemort hissed. The Death Eaters stood still, no one responding to his question. "Parkinssssson, explain to me!" Voldemort glared at the man, his dark red eyes gleaming with hatred.
Desmond Parkinson bowed deeply as he approached his master. "My Lord," He stated, "My daughter has died." Voldemort's eyes shone with fury.
"I know ssshe died. I want to know about her death." Desmond shivered slightly but, for the most part, kept his cool exterior.
"I received a letter from Dumbledore yesterday. In it he stated that my daughter had committed suicide." Parkinson stopped.
"Did I tell you to sssstop, you ingrate?" Voldemort questioned angrily, "Finish up!"
"She committed suicide for a light fighter." Voldemort hissed again.
"Sssseverussss!" He practically growled, "What do you know of thissss? Tell me what happened at that muggle infessssted ssschool." Snape walked into the circle and faced the Dark Lord. He bowed low to the ground and then began to speak.
"My Lord, Ms. Parkinson gave her life to the mudblood, Hermione Granger." Voldemort looked even angrier. "Ms. Parkinson performed the spell that she was told to perform on her father when he passed." Voldemort's livid face made Snape take a step backwards.
"What of thisss mudblood, Sssnape? Why isss it that her name sseemsss sssso familiar?" Snape took another small step backward.
"My Lord, the mudblood is married to Draco Malfoy. She is also is the keeper of the light."
"Thisss keeper, issss she sssstrong?" Voldemort's voice radiated hate.
"Yes." Snape answered simply.
"How can thisss be? Ssshe'sss a mudblood." He was irritated and the group of deatheaters knew that their master had a short temper. They all watched warily as their leader stood to his full height. Though not tall, the look of infuriation that he wore on his face had the group sweating and made him seem much larger than he was.
"She defeated a winged tipard." Snape answered honestly. The group of dark wizards and witches gasped at the seventeen year old's feat. The Dark Lord himself even looked a bit surprised.
"How did ssshe defeat it? I want the detailsss." The deatheeaters all leaned in slightly to hear Snape's tale.
"The mudblood sensed that something was amiss. She sent the young Mr. Malfoy inside and went to the Forbidden forest and the tipard knocked her down. She amassed a number of injuries along the lines of internal bleeding, broken bones and a number of scratches and bruises. The tipard was beat while she had these injuries and she died after the final blow in which the beast hurtled towards her from the sky." Voldemort snarled.
"Do you think it wassss luck?" He asked Snape, his eyes now gleaming slightly with an angry curiosity.
"It could be nothing but luck." Snape replied although he didn't really believe that it was luck. He knew better than to think luck was the only ball in Hermione's field. He thought that she was a brave and strong woman. She did what she had to do and he thought that, even though she had a lot on her plate, she was fairly righteous. Of course, he wasn't going to explain this to his master and then deal with his wrath…
Snape waited quietly for the Dark Lord's reaction to his answer. Voldemort seemed satisfied with it (for the moment at least) and nodded his head, pointing Snape back to his spot. "In line!"
The revel continued on until early in the morning. Voldemort had begun to plan. He didn't want Hermione Granger to get any stronger and didn't want any of his other future deatheaters to join the light ranks.
"Deatheaterssss!" Voldemort called as the meeting began to come to an end, "Don't let me down!" The group of people nodded enthusiastically. He cackled maniacally causing many of his followers to noiselessly fall back in their places. Voldemort looked to all of them.
"Let the war begin!" He cackled again.
The group cheered and then disapparated to their homes to prepare for the coming week.
It would be the week the dark took on the light, again.
The bed was warm and welcoming when Hermione opened her eyes the next morning. Blinking awake, she sat up and faced the sleeping boy on her right. "Draco, get up. Pansy's funeral starts in two hours." Draco growled and turned over, mumbling incoherencies. "Let's go Draco!" Hermione demanded. Draco still lay on the bed, ignoring Hermione's pleas. Sighing, she dragged her feet from the bed and padded quietly into the bathroom.
With the water on high, Hermione stepped into the shower. She leaned against the wall letting the warm torrent of water caress her tired body. It had been a day since Pansy had given up her life and she still couldn't even imagine her doing such a thing. She spent her whole shower trying to comprehend what had taken place a mere 32 hours before.
She stepped nimbly from the shower onto the cold tile floor of her bathroom and dressed in her black robes. She walked out of the bathroom to try rousing Draco again. "Draco! You have an hour and a half to get ready for Pansy's funeral. Wake-up!" Draco grumbled.
"You get ready." His voice was raspy and sounded of sleep.
"I am ready, you prat! I just have a few finishing touches. I want to eat my breakfast and I won't go down without you. Let's go!" Draco mumbled some more but Hermione knew she had won. He turned his head to face hers.
"You're a witch, you know." His husky voice informed her. Hermione smiled at his serious face.
"Don't be so mean or I might have to call you a wizard." She walked into the closet to grab a pair of shoes. Draco smiled at his wife's back. She was a pain but she was right and he stumbled into the bathroom to ready himself for his friend's farewell.
Forty- five minutes had passed and Hermione was groaning in indignation. Draco just would not hurry up! She walked over to the door and banged on it impatiently, "Draco! I want to go to the Great Hall! If I don't take you with me you'll lose track of time! Let's go!" Draco strode from the bathroom seconds later and chuckled at Hermione's red face.
"You may be a Gryffindor but I don't know if red is your color." He chuckled again as Hermione's face darkened.
"Well if it's any consolation it looks better on me than you." She smirked at his contemplative face.
"Let's hope so." Together they sauntered off to the great hall.
To the blind eye Hermione and Draco looked as if they were just friends enjoying each other's company. To Harry and Ron it looked as though Hermione was simply happy and they were pleased to see their friend alive again. Hermione and Draco parted ways and she approached her two best friends. "It looks like you and Malfoy are getting along better." Ron remarked, smiling at his friend mockingly.
"I know you are jealous Ron, but it looks like he's mine" Hermione responded, sticking her tongue out childishly at him. Ron gasped but Hermione could see the corners of his mouth twitching upwards in a small smile.
"Hermione, How are you doing today? I don't want anything happening to you." Harry cut in, stopping Ron's retort. Hermione laughed and her eyes twinkled as she grinned happily at Harry.
"I think I am fine Harry, thank you for caring about me." Harry chortled at his best friend's smiling face and started to eat his French toast.
"How long do we have Minee?" Ron asked a minute later. Hermione looked to her watch.
"Time flies when you are in good company. I think we should get going." remarked Hermione though no other students were heading to the lake yet. "It's much better to be early than late." The boys frowned at her. She ignored them and turned to face Draco at the Slytherin table.
They watched as Hermione looked up to Draco. She cocked her head towards the door and Draco frowned at her. Hermione raised her eyebrow in question and Draco stuck out his lower lip. After a minute of staring one another down Draco looked away and stood up from the table. Hermione smiled in victory and turned to look at the boys.
"I know you two want to finish your breakfast, go ahead. Draco has to speak at the funeral proceedings and I want to make sure he isn't saying anything stupid. I'll see you two down there." Hermione, not waiting for a response, stood and marched off towards the door where Draco was waiting for her, his mouth set in a sneer.
"This is kind of early don't you think? I barely got to eat." Hermione glared good naturedly at her husband.
"I want to go over your speech for errors before you speak to the guests at the proceedings." Draco audibly groaned.
"You did that before and you practically rewrote it for me!" His voice was whiny and Hermione suppressed a chuckle.
"One misses mistakes when everything is checked at one time." Hermione responded snidely. Her answer caused a reproachful look from Draco.
"I'm still hungry!" He complained.
"Draco Malfoy, it is your fault you are so hungry. I had to wait the better part of an hour for you to get out of that bathroom. If you had moved your arse a little quicker we could have made it down here with more time to spare. You didn't so we are going down to the lake and we are going now." Hermione's authoritative voice almost shut Draco up, almost. They started their trip to the lake, passing through the great hall's doors.
"Do you always have to have it your way?" Draco asked rudely.
"Get used to it." Hermione replied, turning around to crinkle her nose at him. Draco frowned at her face and walked quickly away from her. Hermione laughed as she lagged behind and then hurried forward to catch up to his fast paced form.
The Slytherins watched their influential housemate interact with his wife. Most were appalled that he was being pleasant and joking with her. Crabbe and Goyle turned to Theodore Nott. "Nott," Crabbe whispered loudly, "What do you think is going on between those two." Millicent Bulstrode, while trying to stifle her laughter, began choking on her drink. The Slytherins turned to her in question.
"Well, boys, I think that they may have some sort of relationship. Perhaps," Millicent said dramatically, lowering her voice to a whisper "Perhaps they are even married." Goyle laughed, the deep baritone sound surprising a few people.
"Crabbe, you know they are married." Crabbe smiled stiffly.
"I know, but when Draco was telling us about her he didn't seemed happy with her. In fact, he was pretty pissed." Theodore broke in.
"I'd say they are beginning to like each other." Millicent smiled at him.
"I think they might like each other too, they've always enjoyed getting a rise out of one another." Crabbe's face filled with confusion.
"We all know that Draco never wanted to follow the Dark Lord. He always told us he wanted to become a Dark Lord and rule over everyone. Now, he's with Granger and I have seen him laugh with her. You don't think he's moving to the light?" The quartet sat and thought.
"You know," Theodore interrupted the silence, "He's right, the future 'dark master' is becoming a bit more cheerful, in his own dark way. Bulstrode, do you think he wants to switch sides?" Millicent sat and contemplated for a moment.
"No." Millicent decided, "I don't think Draco will ever switch sides. He doesn't believe in many of the values the light side has and he was raised with the dark arts. While I am sure some will change, years and years of living won't leave him, ever." Millicent seemed confident in her answer and went to finish her eggs.
"Well then what do you think about his slow change in demeanor?" Nott again spoke. "He's not as mean." Millicent smiled, finishing the bite of eggs.
"I think that before this year Draco spent a little too much time with us. He's a solitary person and although he likes to be in the spotlight, he also likes to be left alone. I think it was too much of us at once and his irritation showed through and that's why he was always so rude." The boys nodded, grunting their approval of her answer.
"What about with Granger?" Goyle asked her.
"Hermione? If you haven't noticed all they do is shoot insults at each other. Hermione said they have been getting a little closer but it's a slow process. You don't go from being enemies to lovers in a matter of minutes. She said their arguments are like a game, I'm pretty sure he keeps her brain moving."
"Other parts of her too…" Nott muttered. Millicent chuckled.
"No actually." Theodore looked up, his face questioning, "They had to have sex the first night to please the ministry and the rules of the Keeper. She doesn't believe in sex without actually liking someone." All three guys looked at her in wonder.
"None?" Theodore asked.
"I shouldn't be telling you this. It's none of your business." Theodore looked disappointed.
"Mil," Crabbe said, turning to face her, "What do you think about this war." Millicent tilted her head in thought.
"That's a thinker. I don't know. I have seen Hermione do so many things for the light side and she is one of my closest friends. I don't think that I could ever fight against her or her friends. They are all strong. Then again, I couldn't fight against the Dark Lord. It's just not right. I was raised for the dark arts. There's no way I could abandon my heritage. I think I just want to be neutral."
"Won't your new best friend be upset if you aren't all for her?" Nott questioned yet again.
"No. Hermione knows that my parents and I are very close and that I can't just defy everything that I was taught. She knows I'll always be Millicent the Slytherin."
"What about Scar-boy and the Weasel?"
"You know, I think they weren't surprised that Hermione had me as friend. A little stunned, yes, but they know that she has always done her thing. They support her 100 and they aren't going to try and scare me off. They'll support me too because they happen to be okay people." She paused, collecting her thoughts, "I see that look Theodore Nott, and no, I don't want to become friends with them. I just know that if I needed help both wouldn't hesitate to offer."
"You know," He replied, "We are all pretty close to Draco in some way." He stopped, thinking over his choice of words, "As close as we could get to a Malfoy, and I think to make this an easier transition for him we should at least stop teasing the Gryffindors so much."
"What about the other houses?" Crabbe asked bluntly,
"I think this is a transition time for all of us." Millicent said, looking Crabbe in the eye, "Maybe we should just try to be normal around other people. The Slytherins of Hogwarts are known to be mean, sly, cunning, cold and ruthless. In all actuality, a lot of us are, but we are also a lot of fun. The other houses get along just fine, why don't we just ease up a little- to everyone." Others at the table who had been listening in began to speak their thoughts. Millicent pointed towards the door and they walked while they spoke.
"Is that really a good idea?"
"Why does it matter what they think?"
"I don't like Hufflepuffs. I don't want to be buddy- buddy with them." Millicent's exasperation was clearly shown on her usually passive face.
"Guys, I'm not saying that you have to be their best friends. I just want to get the point across that Slytherins aren't all evil; we're just normal witches and wizards. Pansy was known to be stuck-up and to only believe in the dark side. She wasn't thought of as anything other then… well… a bitch by the other houses. We knew better, Pansy was a lot of fun, but they didn't and she never showed them and they never took the chance to see. She was intimidating and I, for one, would never have thought that she would do anything for ANYONE, including a Slytherin. Yet, here we are, heading to her funeral. And why did she die? She died for a Gryffindor. She died for the light side. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" The kids shuffled. One third year, towards the back of the group, spoke up.
"I think you're right. I don't want to be close friends with other people in other houses but I don't want them to think of me as nothing. I know I'm going to be something. I guess I can show a modicum of respect." A handful of the others nodded. Some still looked unsure. A first year spoke up.
"Millicent, I don't want to hide who I am friends with. I talk with the Ravenclaws sometimes. They are very smart." About 10 other people looked away, nodding their heads to the first years comment.
"I'm friends with Hermione." Louise Felchin, a fourth year, said abruptly. "I was lost first year and she found me wandering. I was kind of withdrawn but she showed me how to get back to the great hall. I go to talk to her every now and then." A few other kids nodded at this too.
"See guys," Millicent said, a smile finding its way to her mouth, "We've all been doing the same thing but because we were so afraid of what everyone would say we haven't been having a good time. Other houses don't want to be seen with us and we don't want to be seen with them because we figured we would be cast out. All of us have other friends, if not study partners. This is stupid. After Hogwarts our houses won't matter."
"I don't agree." A sixth year snidely said. Theodore Nott turned to him.
"Maurice, you don't have to go along with us. Millicent is just saying that she thinks we shouldn't have to hide who we talk to because of what our classmates will think. We are Slytherin. We are strong, cunning, sly and smart. If we want to try this, we'll master it. You all know I practice the dark arts at home. I'm not going to stop because of who I'm friends with. I'm simply going to have a larger array of people to speak with." Many of the Slytherin nodded.
"Ten minutes until the funeral begins. Let's head on." The large amount of Slytherins headed to the lake, each in wrapped in their own thoughts.
Harry and Ron had walked out of the Great Hall and through the doors of the school to the funeral of their best friend's savior. They were chatting easily about nothing important when they noticed a bunch of kids standing where they were heading. Both being naturally curious, walked towards the semi-large gathering and noticed Millicent was speaking. Theodore Nott was was using his hands to make a point. The group around the two was nodding vigorously and then split up, making their way to the funeral.
Ron coughed loudly and Millicent turned to see who was behind them. She stopped and smirked at them. Ron watched her uneasily, as did Harry, as she approached them. "Boys," Millicent said, her voice conveying her amusement, "I'm not going to bite." Ron blushed.
"What was up with that gathering Bulstrode?" Ron asked, speaking slowly.
"It's good to know that you are so interested in my affairs, Weasley." Ron frowned.
"What do you want?" Millicent smirked again although the smirk seemed friendlier than before.
"I just wanted to walk with you two, nothing else." Harry eyed her suspiciously.
"Why?"
"I don't know. You're Hermione's best friends. She didn't talk with me yesterday; I just wanted to see how she was recuperating." Harry and Ron motioned for Millicent to walk with them. She followed eagerly trying to figure out how they were going to respond to her. To her amusement, they barely responded to her. They told her that Hermione was good and that she was a little shaken up. After that the short walk was filled with an awkward silence only broken when Ron coughed again. Upon reaching the lake Millicent began to head towards her group of friends, "Bye guys." She called over her shoulder to a suspicious Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.
"Bye Bulstrode." They both replied quietly.
Snape was tired from last night's revel and stumbled into a chair by the lake. The headmaster smiled warmly at him and Snape turned away. He had to inform Dumbledore of Voldemort's plans but now, now was the time to say goodbye.
Snape had never respected Pansy or even remotely liked her. She was a haughty, egotistical, snobby girl and he found her personality reminded him of his two school enemies, Sirius Black and James Potter. After he had graduated from school he had joined Voldemort's ranks and had worked beside him. He had seen Voldemort's attack on the Potter's house and, although he hated James, he didn't think that he, a pureblood, should have died. He had also learned to respect him when he found out his son, Harry, had been spared because of his love for him. Harry had killed the 'invincible' Dark Lord and Snape would always be thankful to him.
The only reason he was always so rude and snide to Harry was because he didn't want the boy's ego to expand to any larger of a size. Harry was a decent kid.
Pansy, now she was a different story. He hadn't liked her and now, yet again, he found that he had to do a complete 180 and respect her. It was worthwhile though because she had saved Hermione. With Hermione and Harry against his master perhaps he could finally be free.
Snape closed his eyes for a moment as he leaned back in his chair. His eyes snapped open when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. Standing behind him was one of the girls he had just been thinking about.
Hermione gave her professor a grim smile, "Professor, I am terribly sorry that you had to lose a student from your house. I just wanted to say thank you for Pansy and I'm sorry for her too. I wish I could have saved her."
"But you did Ms. Granger. You saved her and all the students when you defeated the tipard. Pansy chose to die for you" Hermione smiled and thanked him again before spinning around to go find Draco. Snape closed his eyes but only seconds later they snapped open.
"Ms. Granger!" he called. Hermione turned and sent a curious gaze his way, "Be careful and watch your back." Hermione nodded dourly and hesitated before walking away.
A/N—I do not like this chapter so much. You know when you want to say something but you can't figure out a way to bring it up in conversation? Your brain works quickly to find something in the conversation to bring what you really want to talk about up?
If you don't, I apologize for confusing you. -D
Anyway, I don't know how I want to begin the next chapter but I really brought myself into it with this one. This one was really hard to write because I had to figure out a way to make everything work. Lucky for me my brain has the next chapter worked out and because I was almost 5 days late with my post I promise I will have the next chapter out Wednesday with Thursday as the latest. I promise.
I'll apologize once more for this chapter and I have a question. Does it say in any of the books that Hermione is an only child? Or does she have siblings?
Oh and iff you are wondering about the Slytherins, in no way will they be friendly and cheerful towards everyone just because of a conversation. All that meant was they were free to have friendships with other houses. I have read so many fanfics and had it in my head that Slytherins were always evil. They aren't really that bad… just in a colder house. They won't be cheerfully pleasant, but they won't be twats anymore.
Review,
Yours, Kate