CHAPTER 24
Hermione cautiously flicked her wand, and the lights came on.
She turned to face Draco. He was snoring. Snoring.
'Man, am I going to tease him about this,' she muttered. She ran her hand along with bed side table, and felt something hard and cold under her fingers- the ring.
She slipped it on to her index finger. She quickly put the lights off, and settled down in bed.
She pressed the diamond.
Again the horrible feeling of having Fudge's mind connected to her own
'Just concentrate,' she told herself.
'Good evening, Ms Granger.'
'Good evening minister.'
'Are you two quite settled down? I want a report.'
'Everything's fine. We came back and had dinner here. Mrs. Malfoy is anything but welcoming towards me.'
'You can hardly blame her, can you now?'
Hermione chose to ignore this rather suggestive remark.
'We're in bed right now. Everything's ok. He hasn't done anything suspicious.'
'Good. Well, that's all I suppose. Keep in touch.'
Hermione pressed in the diamond again, and the mental connection died. She sighed, and lay back in bed. Now for a good night's sleep...
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
'Mmm....'
The dark figure in the room ceased its movements. It turned to face the sleeping woman in the bed.
Her hair was splayed across the pillow, and her face looked incredibly peaceful. One hand was lying on her chest. With some surprise, he noted a small silver ring on the index finger.
She wasn't wearing that when she went to sleep.
He checked that she was asleep, and then quickly pulled a dark mask out from under the bed, and slipped it on. He took his wand from the table, and departed, gently shutting the door after him.
Just as the door creaked shut, the woman's eyes popped open.
XXX
Hermione's eyes popped open. Her brain struggled to focus. What had woken her up.
It had been...she strained her mind. It had been....a door...a door creaking.
Could it be?
Dismissing the thought from her mind, she turned around and tried to get asleep once more. No, the door had not creaked. It had all been a figment of her imagination.
She turned around once more, and flung out her arm to the left. All too late, her mind warned her against it- Draco was sleeping there!
She tried to pull her arm back, but it was too late. Her arm was flung straight over-
A bunch of pillows.
Oh good. Draco's not there. Thank Go-
WHAT?
Her eyes flew open. Draco- not there- what the-?
She got up, and quickly began checking around. The bed was empty except for a bunch of pillows tucked under a blanket. He wasn't in the bathroom either. She tiptoed to the door, and yanked it open. Complete silence from downstairs.
Instinctively, Hermione pressed the diamond on her ring. Mental connection was formed between them.
Groggy mental connection at that.
'H-honey?' Fudge thought, sleepily. 'I- uh- I promise I'll get the potatoes when I come home...uh...'
Hermione stifled the urge to laugh.
'Uh- minister?'
'Uh...uh...oh! Ms. Granger! Some reason your communicating with me so late?' he sounded pretty annoyed.
'I'm afraid so, minister. Draco's missing.'
'Missing? What do you mean missing?'
'I woke up because I heard a door creaking. I checked around the room. He isn't here.'
'Are you sure?'
'perfectly. What should I do?'
Fudge was silent for a minute. Then-
'Stay awake. When he comes back, say you heard his slam the front door, or something of the sort, and ask him where he went. Report to me after that.'
'Right.' Hermione muttered, grimly.
