Chapter 5:
Moldy Cheese and Low Rise Jeans
Great Hall
Hermione and Rose did final touches on their outfits before going outside.
Rose was wearing a revealing, tight black shirt and a short, tight black skirt that showed off her perfect legs. Her black hair was French braided and her nails were painted black. She looked like a dark goddess.
Hermione, on the other hand, was a pixie in pink. She wore a midriff-showing pink shirt and blue low rise jeans with a pink sash instead of a belt. Her hair was straightened and one side was held back with a barrette.
They felt good about their appearances and the cat call, whistles and shocked looks on boys' faces confirmed it.
"Ready?" Hermione asked nervously.
"Yeah, but I should be asking you that." Rose answered in a giggle.
"I think I am readying." Hermione said with a last touch at her hair.
"Let's go then."
The two girls, among with a few other students, made their way to the front gate outside of the castle.
When they got there, Draco, Ron, and Harry were nowhere to be found.
Hermione started hyperventilating. Rose had the urge to slap her across her face, but resisted, somehow.
"I think I am making a huge mistake." Hermione managed to sputter out after her episode.
"I think you'll do fine. Just relax and be yourself." Rose put a comforting arm around Hermione's shoulders.
"I don't know who the real me is anymore." She pointed to her make-up which was beautifully done.
Rose winced because she was the one to give Hermione her new look. The pink eyeshadow and the pink lipstick made Hermione look, well, normal.
Rose was hurt but before she could respond, Draco strode into view looking sexier than ever.
He wore a black leather jacket and his blonde hair was slicked back.
Rose heard Hermione gasp as she caught sight of Draco. She could almost feel Hermione's flip-flops, which were performing in her stomach, in her own.
"Hey Draco." Hermione said casually.
"Hey yourself." Draco answered back in a grin.
"Hey both of you, I'm leaving." Rose said annoyed. She turned around to find Ron and Harry standing off a distance scowling at Draco. Ron was red in the ears and Harry's glasses were askew.
As Rose walked away Hermione stood looking at her shoes.
Draco was examining his shirt and picking off imaginary pieces of fluffy lint.
"So Draco, what's new?" Hermione asked, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice.
"Nothing really, just…" Draco began but was cut off by Filch.
"Students! Get in line!" Filch said in a pinched voice. Then he began to read a long list of names of students who had permission to go.
Draco, Hermione, Harry, Rose and Ron went together in silence until they reached the outskirts of the village. There they split up; Ron, Rose and Harry in one group, Draco and Hermione in the other.
Hermione watched as her friends left her with her enemy and her ever-growing fondness for him.
"So, where do you want to go first?" Draco asked, trying to pay no heed to the flips and flops in his stomach.
"Wanna get something to eat or go straight to the sweets?" Hermione asked smiling.
"Sweets then eats."
"I want sugar quills and some sort of sour pills."
"That would be great, except I want eight."
Suddenly Hermione burst into peals of laughter. "Why are we rhyming?"
Draco joined her in the merriment.
Soon both of them fell to the ground in tears from laughing so hard.
As soon as their laughter dried out and their tears dried, Hermione rolled over to face Draco.
Draco was surprised at the vision he saw.
Hermione looked perfectly lovely with her hair messed up a little, her clothing awry and her eyes gleaming with happiness.
She was more than lovely; she was a bewitching goddess and she was his, for now.
They stared at each other for a few minuets, each taking their sweet time.
Hermione's eyes were on his face, while Draco's eyes were distracted to her chest.
Man! She has nice breasts! Draco thought to himself. He felt himself start to blush, but stopped himself in time before the color could completely show.
Draco, growing tired of doing nothing, said, "Wanna go to Honeydukes?"
Hermione's smile widened as she answered yes.
Draco stood and helped Hermione to her feet. Then he brushed himself off.
Hermione cleared away beautiful autumn leaves from her hair.
When they were ready, they walked slowly- hands brushing- to the candy shop.
Once inside they found a splendid supply of candies of all sorts.
Hermione decided on Bertie Bots' Every Flavored Beans, Chocolate Frogs and Sugar Quills.
Draco got Chocolate Frogs, Color Changing Creams and True Feeling Truffles.
They paid and decided to skip lunch and eat their candy.
"Where do you want to sit?" Hermione asked eyeing a solitary tree next to a shop. It was so big that no one could see behind it.
Draco, seeing her staring, took up on the chance to please her. "How 'bout that shady tree over there?"
Hermione grinned and stuck out her elbow. "Shall we?"
Draco ginned back. "We shall." He linked his arm through hers.
When they reached the tree they found it deserted so they sat down.
Hermione opened her box of Every Flavored Beans and ate one. She made a face. "Ewww! Moldy Cheese!" She spat it out.
Draco laughed and opened his box of Color Changing Creams and popped one into his mouth. Hermione began to giggle at him. His face turned a blue color.
"You think that's funny? You try one."
She did. Her face turned a yellow shade. Then she picked up the box and read it. "'Color Changing Creams are affected by emotions. Black: hate, Red: embarrassment, Purple: confusion, Pink: flirty, Orange: normal, Yellow, happiness, laughter, Green, envy, Blue: tension, Gray: depression, sadness, White: fright, shy. The colors fade after 30 mins. – 1 hour.'" The she looked up at Draco. "What are you so tense about?"
Draco turned red, then pink. "I don't know. What do you think?"
Hermione became a red, and then she too became pink. "Maybe it's because you're sitting next to your worst enemy's best friend."
"Could be."
"Or it could be that you were thinking about something else." Her face began to turn a gray.
He face became purple as he asked her what was wrong.
She replied, "Nothing. I was just thinking of, never mind."
"Want one?" Draco asked as he poured some of his True Feeling Truffles out.
"No thanks." Hermione said as she picked through her Beans.
"Ok, your loss." Draco popped one in his mouth.
Hermione's face became yellow. "Hey look! It's Harry, Rose and Ron!"
Draco, suddenly unable to control his feelings, looked around to find Hermione's friends rushing over in excitement and began his speech, "Hermione, you are the moon in the season of darkness; you are the fruit of an apple tree; you are the phoenix in circles of flight—"
"That sounds rehearsed." Rose interrupted as she strived to hold a giggle.
"You are the mystical sea." Draco finished.
Hermione turned red, Rose fell to the floor laughing, Draco turned red, Ron looked about to kill Draco and poor Harry was once again in the dark.
"Gees Malfoy, when did you become so poetic?" Rose laughed.
"I think it was sweet. A little strange, but sweet." Hermione rescued Draco out of his humiliation. "Draco, did you even read the label?"
Draco shook his head and picked up the box. He read out loud, "'True Feeling Truffles will make you splurt out your deep feelings. Caution: Make sure you are not in a crowd when you eat the contents of this box. Side effects: Severe embarrassment, annoyance, the urge to take a chainsaw to someone's throat and nausea."
"That sounds promising." Ron spat out dryly. "At least we got a good show."
"Too bad we didn't hear the first act." Rose said still laughing.
Hermione turned yellow and Draco turned a deeper red.
"Guys? What's wrong with you? You're different colors." Harry said, stating the obvious.
"Thank you for that report Captain Obvious. Would you like to conclude with the weather?" Draco said sardonically.
"Stop it you guys." Hermione whined. "Yes Harry, we are different colors because we tried some Color Changing Creams. And that episode you just witnessed is something I like to call True Feeling Truffles. On sale now! Find them at a Honeydukes near you."
Everyone laughed at Hermione's weak joke. Sure, it wasn't that funny, but it lifted the spirits of all.
"So you three, what did you do today?" Draco asked, desperate for a subject change that had nothing to do with Hermione and himself.
Rose, who was eager to share their boring day with the world, did most of the talking.
Twenty minutes passed and Draco's and Hermione's color faded. Now they were back to normal, not orange.
"I need to make another stop at Honeydukes. Wanna come with me Hermione?" Draco asked, impatient to be alone with her again.
"Sure. Bye you guys. I'll meet you back at Hogwarts." Hermione waved goodbye to her friends.
As soon as they were out of sight, Draco grabbed Hermione's wrist and pulled her into a dark alley.
"What is it?" Hermione asked in a concerened voice.
She never found out the answer because what happened next.
Draco wrapped his arms around her back and kissed her softly on the lips.
He started to pull away but Hermione draped her hands around his neck and kissed him back.
He returned her kiss with a long passionate one. Then she kissed him fiercely.
They broke apart when a noise startled them. Hermione's breathing matched his as they peered in the darkness to find the source of the sound.
Hermione jumped as she heard it again, this time it was closer.
"Hello? Anyone there?" Draco asked casually while his heart pounded in his chest.
"Draco…" Hermione whispered as she hugged him and buried her face into his chest.
"Draco…" a sinister voice called out of the black.
A cold wind pickled Hermione's arms.
"Draco…" the spine-chilling voice called softly.
Frozen fingers swept up against Hermione's neck. She screamed into Draco's chest.
"Hermione… when I say… say… so" Draco's breath was uneven. "Run. Forget about me."
"I can't leave you. I'm staying." Hermione said releasing her grip on Draco.
"Draco…" the uncanny, hair-raising voice called again. "Come…"
"Hermione, go now!"
"No, no!"
"Leave me! Promise me, you will not come back for me." Draco's eyes were hard and threatening.
"I…I promise." She turned to go then turned back around. "Draco..."
"Go!" he yelled at her.
She fled.
Draco turned to face his enemy.
"I was waiting for this moment for a while. After you betrayed me, I found it in my best interests to kill you personally." The voice said. It sounded familiar and female.
"Amelia! What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"
"Putting a stop to your little romance. I wouldn't want you getting involved with the bait, would I?"
Draco didn't answer, but he ran. He ran like there was no tomorrow- which for him, there likely wasn't going to be a tomorrow.
He ran on and on.
She followed.
He stopped suddenly when he realized he was running in the wrong direction. He had been going deeper into the alley.
Before him loomed a large stone wall with a large stone door.
He tried to open the door and thankfully, it not built properly so it gave away easily.
He stepped inside and found himself in a stone corridor.
It was very dark inside and smelled of death and decay.
Not taking any chances, he ran on.
He noticed that the only light came from cracks in the walls.
"Draco dear…" Amelia's voice echoed in the drafty passageway. "Come out; come out wherever you are…"
Draco tripped on a pothole in the ground. He fell with a loud kerthunk on the floor. He screamed in pain.
"There you are pet." Amelia's malevolent smile was seen through the gloom.
"Go away you hell-ridden bitch!" Draco sputtered.
"What is it with bad words in young people's mouths these days? O well, I know only one way to fix that."
Draco's eyes widened in horror as she raised her wand.
"Time to die…"
Amelia shouted curses and Draco, unable to get to his wand, screeched in pain.
The corridor floor was splattered with blood, bits of ash, and Draco Malfoy's body.
Outskirts of Hogsmeade
"ROSE!" Hermione shrieked as she spotted her friends by the tree talking.
Hermione ran to them with tears blinding her vision.
"What is it sweetie? Did mean, old Draco dump you?" Rose asked in a motherly voice.
"No time to explain! You all must come at once! Draco is in trouble!"
The threesome took no time for questions, just followed Rose to the dark alley where she left Draco.
"What were you doing in here?" Ron asked disgusted.
"He made me promise not to come back here! I broke it! No he's gone! I should've stayed! I am so daft!" Hermione was in hysterics.
Ron put a comforting around her and stroked her hair. Harry and Rose searched for clues that might lead to Draco's disappearance.
They couldn't find anything because it was too dark to see.
"Hermione, tell me exactly what you remember." Rose urged the half-insane girl.
She told her everything about the last time she saw Draco.
As Rose was listening and Ron was comforting, Harry was exploring deeper into the alley.
He looked hard and found a dead-end.
Well, it wasn't quite a dead-end.
It had a door.
Harry jogged back to his friends and told them of his findings.
"Hey, I think I found something."
"Where?" Rose asked impatiently.
"Down the alley some."
"Are you sure?" Ron asked, not that he doubted his friends, but he didn't want to give Hermione false hope.
"Positively."
"What did you find?" Rose asked.
"I believe it was a door. It was made of stone and in was ajar."
"What are we waiting for? Let's go." Rose chanted.
They walked in silence down the alley, with an occasional sob from Hermione.
"Here it is." Harry pointed to the door.
It looked like an ordinary door.
Rose looked uncertainly at Harry and bit her lip.
"Ready?" Ron asked.
"I think Hermione should stay here with one of us." Rose suggested.
"I'll stay with her." Ron said.
"No! I am going. It is my fault he is in this mess to begin with." Hermione whispered.
"Are you sure you want to? I don't want to raise your hopes." Rose asked hesitantly.
"Yes."
"Ok, it's settled."
"Let's go!" Ron said in a clear voice to show he was not afraid, even though he was about to pee in his pants.
The quartet stepped cautiously into the stone corridor.
"It's so dark and gloomy in here." Rose thought out loud.
"Yeah. I kinda hope he isn't in here." Harry said. "I mean, sure I hate the guy, but Hermione cares about him. I would hate to see her most upset than she is right now."
As if on queue, Hermione burst into another round of fresh tears.
"Good going mate. You made her cry." Ron said angrily.
"Did not."
"Did to."
"Did not."
"Did to!"
"Did not!"
"Did to!"
"Boys! Shut your mouths or you'll wish you were never born." Rose threatened. "Get Hermione, we're going in deeper, all of us."
No one cared to go against what she said when she was this pissed off.
"So, anyone know a good song to pass the time?" Harry said, trying to lighten the mood.
He failed.
All eyes turned daggers upon him.
"Never mind." He muttered. "No one wants a good round of "The Song That Never Ends"."
They walked slowly and carefully. Someone infrequently tripped on a rock, crack or pothole.
There was a strange dripping echo of what might have been water. No one dared to find out for sure.
Harry started to hum "On My Own" out of sheer boredom.
Ron, who was supporting Hermione, couldn't sock him to get him to shut up.
The tension was intense as they clambered on.
Unexpectedly they started chocking on the air. It stank like rotting moldy cheese
"What is that?" Ron asked through a plugged nose.
"I don't know." Rose answered. "Harry, did you remember to change your underwear this morning?"
"Ha ha. Very funny." Harry replied sarcastically.
Hermione gasped.
"What is it?" Ron asked her.
Hermione's eyes filled with tears as she pointed.
Though it was dark, they could very clearly make out an outline of a body.
"No…" Rose started.
"It can't be." Harry finished.
"Draco…" Hermione burst into tears again.
Yes, the body on the blood spackled floor was Draco Malfoy.
There was no doubt in that.
"Hurry, we need to get him to the castle." Rose urged, feeling her own eyes swell with tears.
"She's right." Ron looked sadly at Hermione. "You going to be ok?"
Hermione didn't answer him. Instead she shook with tears and whispered, "Draco…"
Hospital Wing
Hermione stroked Draco's hand as he lay in bed silently.
He had been in the Hospital Wing for a week since the accident.
It was now Saturday, October 15. Halloween was in less than 16 days.
For Halloween every year, Fifth Years and older could go to the Hogwarts Annual Costume Dance.
Hermione really want to go with Draco, but in his currant situation, he wouldn't be going anywhere for a while. She had planned a romantic night in her head ever since the end of last year.
"Come on Draco. Get better now."
But he did not get better.
When they found him in the stoned corridor he wasn't breathing and he was bleeding severely.
He isn't bleeding anymore, but his breathing pattern is irregular.
"Hermione." A motherly voice called.
She looked up and saw Madam Pomfrey standing on the other side of the bed.
"Hermione, be a dear and step outside while I give Mr. Malfoy his medicine."
Not wanting to leave him, Hermione took one last sad look at Draco and walked away.
Outside, she yawned and checked her watch. 9:46, she should be heading back to the Gryffindor Tower Room now.
"Nah." She said to herself out loud. She was very tired but that didn't matter at all right now.
"You can come back in now Miss Granger." Madam Pomfrey's voice called from inside.
Hermione walked back in as Madam Pomfrey was adding a very large, pointy needle to a drawer full of sharp silver objects.
Hermione felt faint as she went back to Draco's cot.
Next to the bed was a mountain of candies and Get Well Soon cards.
Hermione kneeled beside the massive pile and took Draco's hand again.
Minutes passed and she grew more tired.
Soon she fell asleep whispering his name.
"Draco…"
Somewhere in Hogwarts
"What did you do with the boy?" a sinister voice asked.
His servant replied, "I took care of him just like you asked me to."
"What did you do with the boy?" He asked again.
"I destroyed him at Hogsmeade. Don't worry, no one saw.
"I'm not worried. But I am curious. Where were his little friends?"
"They were away. He told the Mudblood who was with him to run. She was torn to leave him but she obeyed. I found it quite charming."
"Charming, eh? What did you do with the body, if there was one left?"
"I left it there."
"You what?" He was outraged. "Stupid girl! What about the chance of someone finding him?"
"I made sure it was a deserted alley that no one would dare wander into."
"Maybe there's hope for you yet. Leave me to my thoughts. I will summon you if I need you."
"Yes, My Lord." She bowed and left, her green eyes twitching with something.
What was it that she felt? It all new to her.
Was it…?
Yes it was.
For the first time ever, Amelia felt fear.
A/n: Creepy stuff. I intended to make this chapter an amusing one, but it looks like it didn't turn out the way I wanted. Oh well, please review! Thank you!
Also, I won't be able to update soon because I tore a ligament in my ankle (Ouch!) and the time I have at the computer is at night, so by then I am so tired I just want to sleep. But I will be able to write during math! Ha ha!
I also want to thank my three reviewers; Trojan Cheese, Saxifrage and Porcelain Player. You guys rock my socks!
Please review! Till next time.