DON'T PRETEND YOU LOVE ME
CHAPTER XXIII OH GREAT! NOW WHAT?
Morning arrived. It was the day before the Ball, it was still early when Harry woke up, he looked outside and saw the sun up and the birds flying at the relaxing blue sky, the air was fresh when Harry poked his head at the window and took a heavy breath, the day was soothing for him because it was perfect, he felt so good for many reasons, and Hermione was one of them.
"What's up Potter?"
Harry turned around to see Draco playing chess with Ron on Ron's four-poster bed.
"You two are up early, what how long have you've been up?" asked Harry
"Oh, a minute or two, an hour and a half," said Draco
"Check," said Ron
"Well, well, you two are having a good time playing with each other, you didn't put Ron in the Imperious curse did you?" said Harry
"Nah, didn't need to, but if you are asking, then it's safe to say that we are under a spell, it's called love baby," said Draco who looked like he was a box filled with happy things
"It's your move Malfoy," said Ron "Did you have a good night sleep too Harry, I know I did,"
"Does a Seeker catch a Snitch?" said Harry
"Figures," said Ron grinning at him "I saw that Malfoy, no cheating!"
Harry sniggered, it was weird how Ron and Draco were getting along just fine, he looked at Neville on his bed and saw him holding to a pillow while asleep.
"At least one of us is getting some sleep," said Harry
"I'm not, listen to him," said Ron "I said no cheating Malfoy!"
"Ginny, Ginny, I love you, Ginny… you're the only one for me," moaned Neville while asleep
"Shut up!" yelled Ron "That's my sister you're smothering in your dream!"
"We've been listening to him for an hour and a half, if you hadn't waken up, Weasley was planning to kick him where it hurts,"
"Checkmate," said Ron
"What! I didn't see that! Show it to me," said Draco
"I feel like stretching my legs, I'll meet you lot at breakfast," said Harry then leaving the two
"You heard me! You cheated!" yelled Draco
Harry walked around at school, it was nice that classes today were canceled because of the preparations for the Lunar Ball, Harry can hardly wait for tomorrow, he was going with Hermione-may I repeat, with Hermione, there's nothing that can ever ruin his day, even his most least favorite event of everyday that he liked to call Snape.
He was walking at the corridor near the Kitchen when he saw her coming the opposite way; it's amazing how she makes herself more beautiful than the others without putting anything on her face.
"Good morning Harry!" called Hermione
"Good morning to you too," said Harry who's grin was ear to ear "God! She's beautiful today; I wonder if you should tell her how pretty she looks, no, no no! She doesn't like that, how about if you tell her how smart she looks? No, that's just plain dumb, oh no, she's smiling, quick! Hold your chest, your heart might jump out!" said his mind at him
"So you're up early too huh," said Hermione
"Yeah, I figured I'd take a walk for a while," said Harry
"Where's Ron?" she asked
"Back at the dorm playing chess with Draco, can you believe it," said Harry
"Actually, I'm also having a hard time to get that picture on my brain," said Hermione "So where are you off to now?" she asked
"Oh, I was planning on going back and ask Draco and Ron to play Quidditch," said Harry
"Okay, do you mind if me and the others watch you, Luna, Ginny and Parvati were already awake when I woke up, I figured they might want to take a walk around too," said Hermione.
"Sure, I'll go get the guys," said Harry
"And I'll go get the others at the Great Hall, we'll wait for you," said Hermione
The two of them went their separate ways, but neither do they know, someone was hiding behind one of the pillars watching them.
DAN! DAN! DAN! (AN Dramatic music for the atmosphere)
Harry was now walking to the Quidditch pitch along with Ron; Draco and Neville (AN Draco was almost sprinting) with bright grins on their faces, they were on the corridor near the Quidditch field when they saw Euan Abercrombie running quickly at them with a look of panic on his face.
"Harry! Harry!" called Euan
"What is it Euan?" asked Harry with concern
But Euan couldn't speak he was still busy panting from a long run.
"Could we leave him behind, Luna's waiting to see my magnificent flying skills," said Draco impatiently
"No (Gasp), that's what I'm (Gasp) trying to tell you (Gasp), they took them (Gasp), they took the girls," said Euan
Nobody could explain the look on Harry's face when he heard this, "You mean Hermione and the other girls, what happened? Who took them?" he asked quickly
"How about Luna? What happened to Luna," said Draco trying hard to get out of Neville's grip on him
"Parvati…" muttered Ron
"I was going to go practice at the Field when I noticed them from far away, then suddenly out of nowhere, Dolohov and a number of Slytherins shot some spells that knocked them unconscious, and then, then, they put them inside four sacks and hovered them away," Euan explained
Harry heard Draco's breathing become faster and faster in anger, he looked at his fist and saw blood coming from him palms.
"Why didn't you help them? Why didn't you-"
"That's enough Draco," said Harry to Draco "Okay, now listen Euan, I need you to tell me where they went off to," said Harry
The look on Euan's face became uneasy "Harry they- they went outside Hogwarts and flew away with their Brooms," said Euan
"Damn it!" shouted Draco
"What now Harry?" asked Ron
Harry paused for a while "I need to see Ernie Macmillan," said Harry
"He must be either at the Hufflepuff common room or at the Great Hall," said Neville
"Neville, you go with Draco and look for him at the Hufflepuff common room, tell him that I need to see him, me and Ron will go to the Great Hall, Euan, I need you to tell a teacher about this," ordered Harry, after that, they dashed off to their destinations
Harry and Ron arrived at the Great Hall; they quickly scanned the Hufflepuff table and saw Ernie talking to his girlfriend Susan Bones.
"Ernie!" called Harry, Ernie looked at him
"Morning Harry, what is it?" he asked
"There's a spell that Hermione taught me, and it's like a compass, now I need you to come up with a way for that spell to point at where a person is," said Harry
"What? Why?" asked Ernie
"Don't ask! I really need you to do me this favor just now," said Harry
"But Harry it's-"
"C'mon Ernie, if anyone can do it, it's you, you were second with Hermione at Charms this year weren't you, I know you can do this," said Harry
Ernie stared at Harry for a moment and then "Show me this compass spell you got," said Ernie
Just a few moments later, Draco, Neville and Euan came at the Great Hall.
"There you are," said Neville spotting Ernie
But Ernie just ignored them "Okay, I think I got it, you can now tell what direction a person is when you have something of them," said Ernie
Harry paused for a second, what did he have that belonged to Hermione, he felt around for his pocket and pulled out Hermione gift to him, it was the Locket that enabled them to talk to each other.
"Point me!" said Harry an arrow came out of his wand pointing North, Harry then placed the locket near the arrow and the arrow suddenly changed it's direction to South East "It worked!" said Harry
"You're a genius," said Ron who gave Ernie a quick hug, Ernie blushed in front of Susan who was giggling
"Let's go," said Harry
They met Draco and Neville in the way out, the four of them stormed out of the Great Hall carrying their Brooms.
"Harry wait!" called Euan "I can't find any teachers," he murmured
Meanwhile, in a dark eerie place, Hermione found herself chained against the stonewall behind her along with Luna, Ginny and Parvati, they're till unconscious, she scanned around and saw the room she was in, it was dark, the only source of light was the brightness of the moon peering through the window, from her study of the place, it was an old abandon castle of some sort, but where it was, was a complete mystery.
"Ah good, you're awake," came a man's voice
Hermione looked around but couldn't see the person who spoke hidden in the dark, then he walked out of the shadows, it was Derek Dolohov along with the rest of the Slytherin 7th years, they were all looking smugly as usual.
"You," said Hermione
"Yes, me," said Dolohov
"Why did you bring us here?" she demanded
"To lure Potter and Malfoy, so I can finally make them pay for what they did to me, humiliating me like that, it will not go unsettled," said Dolohov
"Then why did you bring Parvati and Ginny along?" said Hermione
"Well my dear, besides the reason of luring Potter and Malfoy here, I also have another reason, I," said Dolohov walking towards to Hermione "…Have found that not all Mudbloods are worthless, some, like you, are just enough to be a source of entertainment,"
Meanwhile, Timothy Rookwood, a tall, brown haired man with rather large front teeth walked towards Luna who was starting to awaken.
"You Bastard! Leave her alone!" screamed Hermione
Rookwood raised Luna's chin in the attempt, but Luna suddenly woke up and saw the face that was in front of her, without thinking, she spitted Rookwood in the face.
"You witch!"
PAK!
Rookwood had slapped her in the face; Hermione looked at her left cheek and saw it bleeding, Rookwood must have scratched her.
"You stay away from her you pig!" shouted Hermione
"Now, now Rookwood, there's plenty of time to do that once our business is done," said Dolohov
Rookwood smirked at him, then turned to Luna "Your boyfriend better get here quick, before I lose my patience," said Rookwood to Luna.
The whole bunch of Slytherins left them while laughing, Luna tried to struggle against the chains.
"Are you alright?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah, I guess," said Luna, she tried to struggle once more "Draco! Wherever you are you better get here quick!" she yelled at the open window nearby
Back at Hogwarts, Euan was still busy looking for a teacher to tell what happened, he was running along the corridors looking left and right, he turned at the next hall to the left and had suddenly hit someone, Euan slammed to the floor, he looked up and saw that he had bumped into Professor Lupin, he looked beside him and saw Professor Black and Professor Snape, he didn't understand it but he thought that they were arguing about something.
"Oh, sorry, are you alright?" asked Lupin who stretched his hand out to the boy
"Professors! Finally," said Euan
"What is it Euan? Where you looking for one of us, except him, nobody gives a rat's ass about him," said Sirius pointing at Snape
"Bold words Black, bold words," said Snape
"Professors, the rest of the Slytherin team abducted four girls just now, Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, Parvati Patil and Hermione Granger," said Euan
"What!" said the three
"Harry, Ron, Neville and Draco went after them," said Euan
"Tell us what happened," said Lupin
Euan told them everything, he didn't finish the story soon enough because of the comment and suggestions of Sirius and Snape to go die.
"Thank you for telling us Euan, now you should go along, we'll handle this," said Lupin before Euan left them behind
"Now what?" asked Sirius
"We should go and rescue those girls," said Lupin
"How?" asked Sirius
"We need someone who can give us any information about students who were wandering around," said Lupin
"You can rest now, I know such a place to get that kind of information," said Snape who walked away
"I'm coming," said Sirius
"Up yours,' said Snape
"There are students in my House who are involved in this too," snarled Sirius
"And you think that I care," said Snape
"We'll all go," said Lupin
"Harry! Are you sure that we're headed the right direction!" yelled Ron from his Broom
Harry checked the compass with Hermione's locket, it's still pointing to South East.
"Yeah, just keep going!" yelled Harry
As the four of them passed across the town of Hogsmeade below, their fingers were getting numb as they approach the mountains, as they got nearer and nearer to the forest down below, a strange force was making their Brooms swivel out of control, they plummeted down to earth in top speed, but fortunately, they had all managed to land safely.
"What the hell was that?" bellowed Draco who climbed down off his Broom
"It felt like my broom was being pulled down by something," said Ron
"This forest must be enchanted, that means we're walking to where Hermione is from here," said Harry
The four of them muttered a spell that caused their Brooms to Disappear.
"C'mon you guys, it's this way,' said Harry
Hours had passed, the sky was starting to set when Snape, Remus and Sirius had apparated in front of an old looking Bar in the Middle of a forest, it had the words Patterson's Pub on top of it, it looked like it was crowded judging by the shadows on the windows and the noise of people and glasses coming from inside.
"This is it? Is this where you get your info?" asked Sirius "Oh excuse me, could I get a Butterbeer, oh, and I'll have some vital information to go," he said in a high pitched voice that was suppose to imitate Snape
"Nobody asked you to come Black, why don't you just go back and keep your old friend Pastor Smith company," said Snape
Sirius glared dangerously at him.
"Could we please hurry up, students lives are at stake," said Lupin
Snape and Sirius didn't walk ahead without glaring at each other; they reached the door and saw the sign that said…
NOTICE TO THE COSTUMERS.
DUE TO KEEP THE PEACE OF THE PUB'S ENVIRONMENT, ALL COSTUMERS MUST LEAVE THEIR WANDS AT THE BOX BELOW; THE WANDS WILL BE HANDED OUT TO THE COSTUMERS WHEN THEY LEAVE.
P.S.
PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOUR SHOES ARE CLEAN.
(IF NOT, YOU WILL BE FINED)
The three of them took their wands out and placed it inside the box below the door, they went inside and they were immediately met with the smell of smoke, beer and other costumer's breath (AN not a very nice odor), Snape looked around the pub in search of someone.
"What now? Are you looking for strippers or something?" said Sirius.
"Sirius, why don't we just sit down and order some drinks while he works something out," said Lupin.
"Best idea I've heard all day," said Sirius, he looked at Snape for a moment and turned back to Lupin "Well, any idea of yours is better than his anyway,"
Sirius looked for a spot while Lupin went to the bartender to order some drinks, a minute later, Lupin had arrived carrying some drinks and sat down with Sirius, Snape had followed.
"What happened?" asked Lupin
"We wait for someone that I know," said Snape
"Oh yeah, probably some woman to stand on the table and start taking her clothes off," muttered Sirius.
"No, we wait for a stray dog catcher to take you to the pound," said Snape calmly, Sirius glared at him
"I hope you're right about this Severus, those girls might be in a lot of trouble as we speak." said Lupin
Meanwhile, Ginny and Parvati had gained back their consciousness.
"Oh my god!" said Parvati who sounded horrorstruck
"What is it?" asked Hermione quickly
"Hermione- your skin is so totally smooth! What lotion do you use?" she asked
Hermione laughed at her, she didn't exactly know how Parvati could ask questions like this in this kind of situation, "Hasn't she noticed that we're chained to the wall?" she thought.
"I hope we get out of here real soon, I have to get myself ready for the Ball tomorrow," said Ginny
"I wonder what's keeping them?" asked Luna
"Don't worry, I'm sure they're on their way to get here as we speak," said Hermione
"RUUUUNNNNN!!!!!!"
The four of them were running for dear life as a 20-foot troll was chasing them with its enormous club.
"I told you not to wake it! But no! You wanted to touch it! You were curious!" Harry shouted at Draco as they ran away
"Oh sure! Blame me for everything that's wrong with your life!" Draco shouted back
"Shut up and keep running!" yelled Ron
"Behind those trees! Hurry!" yelled Neville
Back at the Pub, the person that Snape was waiting for hasn't arrive yet, he and Sirius were busy insulting each other when a couple of unfamiliar Wizards went over to them.
"Can we help you?" asked Lupin.
DAN! DAN! DAN! (AN Dramatic music to keep the mood up)
AN Okay, I know that I haven't updated for a while that's why I'm really, really sorry. Please bare with me.
I want to say thanks to all of my reviewers from the most recent to the first ones.
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