Disclaimer: I'm still not J.K. Rowling, so I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: A special thanks goes out to lilith for helping me overcome the evil writers block I experienced in the middle of this chapter. And as always thank you to all my reviewers! You guys are the best ever!
MrsTomFelton007 – happy to hear you like the story, and I'm equally happy to know that you recommend my work to other people; it makes me feel so good!
Sirius-harry-n-remus – the plan is going to be mentioned in this chapter, in a much bigger way than ever before. I think I was as anxious to get to it as you probably are, so I decided to get into it here. Hope you enjoy!
Lilith – I know, I've been building up to a lot of nothing so far . . . .but not anymore :o) I hope you like it!
Karma Chameleon – lol poke Ron with a hockey stick! Perhaps that would be the best way to get through to him . . . . thanks for the review!
Zuvalupa – why thank you. Yes it's true, Hermione's going through a bit of a rough spot, but trust me, that's nothing compared to what I have in store for this fic!
elektra30 – thank you very much. I know what you mean about Ron, but I wanted Draco to get jealous, and that was the only way I could think of to do it without things being too weird. I'm sorry if it seemed a bit rushed (this chapter might seem that way too a bit, but you're right, I'd rather the events be rushed than the fic become boring). Anyway, thanks so much for the review, and I hope you like this chapter!
Jaezi, Sunflower18, Alcapacien, Elle Felton922, Chantal J, Me – Thanks for the reviews, glad you guys like it!
Alright, I wasn't planning on going as far as I do in this chapter, but I decided that the fic was moving too slowly. I got tired of dealing with only the emotional stuff and I wanted to get to the more exciting plot stuff, so there's a little touch of it here, with more to come in the next chapter. I hope you like it!
Chapter 12: Christmas Break
It had taken Draco a good hour to fully calm Hermione down after Potter and Weasley had gone. But now, Draco had had a full night to brood over what had happened, and he had been forced to wait all day for an opportunity to make Weasley pay. He had, with great difficulty managed to keep his anger bottled in while he was comforting Hermione and attending class, but now that Hermione was back in the common room working on the yearbook Draco had a chance to let his anger out. He stalked through the halls, determinedly heading towards the castle entrance. Once he arrived, he positioned himself in the shadows of the entrance to the dungeons where he had a hidden view of the entrance to the castle. He knew that the Gryffindor quidditch team was practicing tonight, and they should be coming in any moment. Draco was counting on Weasley being one of the last people to come in, and tonight Draco didn't care if Potter was with him. He'd take them both down if he needed to; he didn't give a damn as long as he got to kick the pathetic weasel's ass.
He was growing more impatient by the second. His wand was out and he was itching to use it. He was only too conscious of the feel of the wood between his fingers, 10 ½" of ebony wood with a core of dragon heartstring just begging to be used. Draco's ears were pricked for the slightest sound, his eyes locked on the door ready for it to open. As soon as he saw that red-headed idiot, he was going to attack, but suddenly he heard a soft sound behind him. He couldn't make out what it was, but it was steadily growing louder. Draco stuffed his wand back into his pocket and turned to glare at the intruder, in his head he was violently cursing whoever it was who decided to interrupt his stakeout. He was ready to lash out when he more clearly heard what the sound was, fast approaching footsteps and hurried breathing. When he saw the figure of Blaise emerging from the depths of the dungeons, some of his fury diminished.
"Draco!" cried Blaise desperately, "I was just coming to find you!"
"Why," Draco asked slowly, keeping his guard up.
"Draco, you gotta help me! They want to initiate me after the first of the year, and they're not just gonna initiate me, they gave me an initiation task!"
Draco's heart skipped a beat, with everything else going on, he had completely forgotten about Blaise's impending initiation. He hadn't even begun to think about how to help Blaise get out of it alive. "What do they want you to do?" His voice was calm and stony, but inside he was completely losing it, there were just too many things to think about, and he was completely at a loss for what to do.
Blaise gulped, "they want me to deliver a mudblood to kill at the initiation ceremony, and . . ." Blaise stopped; he suddenly seemed unable to speak.
Draco's blood ran cold. Instantly his mind flashed to Hermione, and his protective instincts began working in overdrive pumping loads of adrenaline through him. Suddenly, he had an overwhelming need to know that she was alright, thoughts such as, 'where is she right now?' and 'Is she alright?' were running through his mind. "And what?" he asked Blaise sternly, even though every fiber in his being told him that he did not want to hear the answer to that question.
"Well," Blaise definitely wasn't meeting Draco's eye now. "They don't want me to bring just anyone." Blaise paused again, finally forcing himself to look Draco in the eye, "Pansy volunteered Granger as the one I must deliver to them."
Draco felt his insides turn to ice. His mind was swirling with a sudden parade of thoughts, all clamoring for attention, none of the thoughts pleasant. For a long time, Draco stood, staring blankly at nothing, he heard nothing but the swirling dread of his own thoughts. Amidst all the things that were suddenly racing through his brain, one thought remained crystal clear, he had to protect Hermione. Slowly his eyes focused on the frightened looking figure of Blaise standing awkwardly in front of him. But he did not see the same Blaise he had known since he came to Hogwarts. The Blaise who was standing in front of him now was dangerous. Draco's jaw tightened resolutely, if it came between helping Blaise and protecting Hermione, there was no question what he was going to do. Draco took a step back from Blaise, his brow slowly furrowing as he did.
Blaise saw the decision forming in Draco's mind, his eyes widened and his mouth hung open slightly. "Draco please!"
But Draco's eyes were narrowing; they were the color of dark charcoal, and they were completely closed off. Suddenly, Draco wondered what he was doing here. What the fuck did he care about pummeling Weasley into a pulp when Hermione was all alone and potentially in danger? He looked at Blaise with disgust. Blaise took a careful step towards Draco, a look of near terror on his face, "Draco please, that's why you have to help me! I could never . . . Draco you know I wouldn't."
Draco continued glaring at Blaise, who was wearing a very odd unreadable expression. His face looked worried enough, but there was something guarded about his eyes, something Draco could not place. But it made his protective instincts run in overdrive. He sidestepped Blaise just as the door to the castle burst open, revealing the Gryffindor quidditch team. Five of the players passed the two Slytherins without so much as a second glance, but Harry and Ron stopped short at the sight of Malfoy.
Ron looked absolutely ready to kill, and Harry seemed to be torn between wanting to attack Malfoy, and wanting to stop Ron from making any stupid decisions. But neither of the Gryffindors got the chance to do anything. Draco glared angrily at them, threw a quick warning glance at Blaise, turned on his heel and stalked off, his cloak billowing out behind him in a manner very reminiscent of Snape.
Ron and Harry stood still in the entryway. They were looking harshly between Draco and Blaise. Blaise was watching Draco's retreating figure with a look of determination on his face. He mumbled something to himself that Harry and Ron could barely even hear, and then he disappeared into the dark depths of the dungeons.
"What was that all about?" Harry mused.
But Ron wasn't listening; he was silently fuming and continuing to glare in the direction Draco had gone. Harry looked at his friend and let out a heavy sigh, it took quite a forceful shove to get Ron to finally move and walk to the common room.
Over the next month Draco constantly kept his eye out for Hermione. He made absolutely sure she was never alone around any Slytherins other than him; he wasn't going to take any chances. But he still felt uneasy. As Christmas break crept closer, he became more anxious, and his mind started racing trying to think of ways to get Hermione and Blaise (but mainly Hermione) out of this mess.
Amazingly enough, he managed to keep his anxiety hidden from Hermione which considering how well she had learned to read him, was no small feat. The yearbook served to keep her occupied most of the time. She was always trying to create the perfect layout, and figure out what magical additions she wanted to make to the pages. So far she had decided that each of the house sections would be introduced with a page featuring their mascot, which would seem to leap, slither, or fly off the page when the book was opened to that section.
While at first Weasley had utterly refused to apologize, it seemed as if he missed Hermione as a friend too much to keep it up. So with immense difficulty on his part, he managed to apologize and restrained himself from acting on his jealous feelings. He still felt them when he saw Hermione with Draco, but at least he wasn't acting on them anymore.
Hermione was finally happy with everything that was going on in her life. Things had finally worked out with her friends, she got to spend a reasonable amount of time with Draco, classes were coming along great, the yearbook was turning out to be better than she expected, and Christmas break was fast approaching. Draco loved seeing the joy in her eyes at being truly happy. There were a few times when he had been on the verge of telling her about Blaise, but the thought of seeing the joy in her eyes die and be replaced with fear was too much for him to bear. So with a feeling as if he was shouldering an extremely heavy load, he kept the problem entirely to himself.
He and Blaise had spoken on a few occasions, though Draco would not allow Blaise to go anywhere near Hermione at any time, even if Draco was there with them. Still, in the week before break, he and Blaise had come no closer to finding a solution to the problem, and Draco was growing desperate. Once school was over, and they no longer had classes to distract them, Hermione began to notice how Draco was acting differently. She couldn't put her finger on it at first, but something was definitely different, and it wasn't necessarily bad. When he held her she felt as if he was afraid to let her go for fear he would lose her. She liked the feeling; she liked feeling like he would be there to protect him no matter what.
In the week before Christmas, Hermione did her best to split her time fairly between Draco and her friends. It helped that Harry, Ron and Ginny all liked to play quidditch in the snow, so while they were out playing, Hermione got to be with Draco.
Draco had been very worried that Pansy would find some reason to stay over the break, but luckily she did not, so Draco felt slightly more comfortable. He and Blaise were the only Slytherin seventh years to stay, along with one Ravenclaw, one Hufflepuff, and the four Gryffindors. Draco used the time Hermione spent with her friends to talk to Blaise and try to come up with a solution to the fast approaching problem. But still, no revelation came to him, and even in the face of the upcoming holiday, Draco found himself growing antsy.
When Christmas finally came, Draco slowly drifted out of sleep. He was relieved to still feel Hermione sleeping soundly next to him. He was glad that she was willing to share a room while they slept over the holidays, for multiple reasons, but the most important being that if they were together, he didn't need to worry about her somehow being attacked in her sleep. Draco looked at the clock next to his bed, decided it was time for both of them to get up, so he leaned over and planted several small kisses on Hermione's forehead and face.
She woke up with a small giggle, her cheeks flushing pink. Her chocolate brown eyes open to meet his silver ones, "I like waking up like that," she whispered as he continued to kiss her.
Once he realized that she was awake, his kisses moved to her lips, which she gladly returned. "Interesting," he spoke in between kisses, "I enjoy waking you up like that."
Hermione giggled. The two were about to get a little more involved with each other when there was a loud knock at the portrait. "Hermione!" called Ginny's muffled voice.
Draco was on his side partially leaning over Hermione. He could see her attention begin to drift away from him. "Just ignore them," he whispered with a touch of impatience, pressing down onto her and kissing her hard before she could protest. At first she pushed against him a bit, but it didn't take much persuasion on his part to get her to stop. She was even beginning to urge him on when her friends again interrupted. This time the knocking was louder, and three voices called her name. Draco threw himself off Hermione and walked directly into his bathroom, closing the door much harder than he would normally.
Apparently the three Gryffindors outside must have gotten the message that someone was not pleased with their presence because the knocking and calling abruptly stopped. Hermione let out a frustrated sigh, and hastily extricated herself from Draco's bedding. She then rushed out to the common room by the entrance, "Hey guys!" she called, attempting to sound cheerful, "I'll be out in just a minute, just hang on."
"Okay," answered Ginny, her voice sounding slightly hesitant.
Hermione then raced into her room, and quickly put on a change of clothes. She ran a brush through her hair, not that it helped to tame it much, but still it was better than nothing. Hermione glanced at herself in the mirror, deemed herself presentable, and went to open the portrait door. "Hey guys!" she greeted, doing her best not to sound as out of breath as she felt.
"Hey Hermione," they answered.
"Hermione we loved our gifts" said Ron happily, as he munched on some Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans.
"Isn't it a little early for sweets Ron?" Hermione asked disapprovingly.
"Of course not, it's Christmas!" answered Ron, "so how'd you like your presents?"
"Oh, umm I haven't opened them yet, I was waiting til you guys got here," Hermione lied.
"If we had known you were going to wait, we would have waited to open yours too!" said Harry.
"That's ok, "assured Hermione, "come on it, and I'll open them now." Hermione led her friends into her room. Her eyes widened when she realized that her bed was still perfectly made due to the fact that she hadn't slept in her bed for the past few nights. Luckily for Hermione, the only other person who seemed to notice the tidy state of Hermione's bed was Ginny. The observant red head managed to put that together with the angry door slam she had heard before Hermione had let them in. Ginny didn't say anything, though she did send Hermione a knowing look, which caused Hermione to blush deep red. Hermione quickly focused entirely on opening her gifts in an effort to hide her crimson cheeks, but that didn't help hide Ginny's sudden fit of giggles.
"What's so funny?" asked Harry. But Ginny just shook her head and continued to giggle. The two boys shrugged at each other and returned their attention to Hermione, who had by now managed to return her cheeks to their normal color.
The four Gryffindors didn't linger in Hermione's common room too long, mostly because Hermione wasn't entirely sure how angry Draco was at the interruption and she wanted desperately to avoid a conflict this year. The memory of what had happened last year was all to clear in her mind, and she had no intention of allowing any of them to repeat the experience. The friends spent most of the day outside in the snow having snowball fights, sliding along the ice, and building figures in the snow. They only went inside when it was time to prepare for Christmas dinner.
Draco was in the common room when Hermione entered, wet with snow and out of breath. She approached him cautiously. He watched her approach with an unreadable expression. He had decided soon after Hermione's friends arrived that he was going to forget about what had happened that morning because he wasn't in the mood to be in a bad mood. Still, a large part of him loved teasing Hermione like this. He knew she was apprehensive and probably expected him to still be upset. He was interested in seeing how she chose to deal with the situation.
As he had hoped, she chose to deal with the situation by appealing to his physical desires. She walked up to him and wrapped her hands around his neck. "I'm sorry about this morning," she said softly.
Draco made no response except to roll his eyes.
Hermione looked alluringly into his eyes "I was hoping that maybe after dinner we could maybe pick up where we left off?" She kissed him lightly, just to give him a little taste.
"Mmmm" Draco licked his lips and gave Hermione a provocative grin.
The two prepared for dinner, then walked down together hand in hand. They entered, and made their way to the circular table at the front of the room. They seated themselves so that Draco was in between professor Snape and Hermione. The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were on the other side seated next to professor McGonagall. Draco noticed that there were only three seats left, a fact which he brought up in a quiet conversation with professor Snape in which he was informed that Blaise was ill and would not be coming to dinner. Dinner, surprisingly enough, passed without an incident. Everyone was even nice to one another, though that was probably because Draco refrained from speaking the entire time.
After dinner, when everyone got up, Draco paused. He whispered to Hermione that he was going to go down to the dungeons to check on Blaise and that he would be up soon. Hermione nodded and left with the other Gryffindors, who were all chatting happily now that their stomachs were filled with entirely too much Christmas dinner. Draco exited the Hall, but he did not go to the dungeons. He had been seriously debating all day whether or not he should tell Dumbledore about Pansy being a Death Eater, and about Blaise's initiation and initiation task. But his pride was screaming at him to keep his mouth shut about it. Draco was standing outside the Hall, filled with indecision when the doors opened and professor Dumbledore stepped out.
"Mr. Malfoy?" said professor Dumbledore genially, "is there something you wish to speak to me about?"
'How does the annoying bastard always know?' Draco thought to himself. But having been unprepared to make a decision, and feeling cornered, Draco's instincts kicked in and he immediately closed his mind off. He smirked politely "No professor, I don't think so."
"Of course," nodded professor Dumbledore. Then, without another word, he turned and made his way towards his office.
Draco shook his head; he was surprised that Dumbledore had not questioned him further. Perhaps the old man had finally realized that attempting to get information out of Draco was futile when he wasn't willing to provide it.
Even so, Draco walked back to the common room, his mind plagued with indecision. 'Should I have told Dumbledore? It wouldn't have done any good right? That would just make Voldemort angrier, and put everyone in more danger, especially once they graduated. So really, there was no reason to tell Dumbledore, right?' Draco did his best to convince himself that not telling Dumbledore was the right thing to do, and when he focused on how damaged his pride would be, he believed himself. But when he approached the founders' portrait and a vision of Hermione swam through his head, he gulped with the thought that perhaps he shouldn't let his pride interfere with her safety. 'But she was safe now; he was making sure of that. Blaise would never be able to hurt her as long as Draco was around.
"Ehhemm" a stern voice cleared their throat, thereby interrupting Draco's thoughts. Salazar was looking at him expectantly. "Well, don't stand there all day, we've got better things to do on Christmas then watch you stand there!"
Draco smirked at the painting, "Credo dans fatum."
"About time!" shouted Salazar as Draco opened the portrait and entered the common room.
Hermione looked delighted when Draco entered, Draco returned her smile, and moved slowly towards her. "I was just about ready to go looking for you," she said sweetly.
"Can't bear to be without me for over ten minutes? Now really Hermione, I know I'm irresistibly charming, but isn't that just a little much?" Draco teased with a raised eyebrow.
Hermione stood up and pursed her lips playfully, "have I told you lately how egotistical you are?"
"Me? Egotistical? NEVER!" Draco, put his hand to his chest and pretended to be mortally offended.
"Right," Hermione laughed with a roll of her eyes, she took his hand in hers and suddenly pulled him over to her room, come on I want to give you your present!"
Draco allowed her to drag him across the room, but before she could pull him fully into her room, he let go. She gave him an exasperated look as he stepped away. Without a word, he swept into his room. Hermione heard him open his trunk and rummage through it until he found whatever he was searching for. When he returned to his doorway, he had both his hands behind his back. He sauntered casually back towards her, with a restrained grin on his lips. Hermione beamed at him, and sat down on her bed as he approached. He seated himself next to her, and at once they exchanged gifts. Hermione was very surprised by the package she received. The year before, Draco had given her a necklace (which she still wore every day), and she had honestly been expecting him to get her some other extravagant piece of jewelry. She wasn't really the jewelry type, with the exception of the necklace, but that was still what she had been expecting Draco to give her. But the package she now held, wrapped in shimmering silver and gold wrapping paper, was rather large and surprisingly heavy.
Draco chuckled at the look of curiosity in her eyes, for once he was more concerned with her reaction to what he got her than he was about what it was that she got him. Hermione looked up at him, a hungry look of excitement in her eyes, "well open it!" she urged.
Draco smiled and leaned back, placing the gift in his lap and putting his hands behind him for support, "nah, I think I like the anticipation more."
Hermione let out a frustrated noise, and pulled on Draco's arm, "come on, we'll open them at the same time."
"Alright," Draco agreed.
The pair tore into their gifts at the same time, but before Draco took his out, he looked up at Hermione. The gold and silver wrapping paper lay littered on the ground, and Hermione was gazing with wonder at her gift. "Draco, it's . . . wonderful."
Draco smiled with relief, he wasn't sure if getting Hermione a book would seem to predictable, but he knew that she would like it, and judging from the way she was gazing at it with delight, he had made the right decision.
Hermione traced her fingers over the cursive lettering on the cover, "Draco it's . . . . . perfect," she breathed. The title read A Child's Fantasy: A Collection of Classic Tales. Hermione carefully opened the cover as if she was handling the most precious treasure in the world. Inside was an index of dozens of stories, all of which she was dying to read. "Do you know them all?" she asked as she browsed the titles.
"Some better than others, but I've heard them all," responded Draco, his voice quiet and deep.
"You know," Hermione said as she turned the page, "you promised me you would finish telling me that story you began in Hogsmeade, and I have yet to hear the rest."
Draco grinned; he had known that she was going to ask him to finish the story once she got the book. He chuckled as he gazed lovingly at her and her delight over a book.
"Hey!" Hermione cried as she looked up at Draco, "you didn't finish opening your present!"
Draco's head drifted down to where his gift was sitting in his lap. He had been so focused on Hermione that he had actually forgotten about his own present. It was wrapped in red and green Christmas paper which Draco finished tearing and, allowing it to fall to the floor. He held a small completely plain black box, with a gold clasp holding it shut. Draco released the clasp and opened the cover. Inside, curled up and fast asleep was a miniature model of a wyvern. The figure lifted its head as the light hit it, and opened its eyes. It looked up at Draco, and let out a miniature roar, baring its miniscule teeth. Its serpent tail uncurled and curled again, it looked like a dog wagging its tail.
Hermione was watching Draco apprehensively. She was biting her lower lip, and her eyes were wide, she seriously didn't know if he would like the gift. It was one of those things that had seemed perfect at the time, but now she was not so sure. "You know," she said, clearly sounding as if she were apologizing, "You're not the easiest person to shop for. I mean what can you get for someone who can already afford everything, and has finicky tastes?"
A small smile spread across Draco's face. Hermione opened her mouth to begin making more excuses, but Draco was too fast for her. He saw her mouth open immediately he silenced her with a kiss. The kiss was deep and filled with desire. Hermione felt herself grow weak; she clung to Draco for support as he slowly broke the kiss. Their faces were centimeters apart when Draco spoke in a husky whisper, "Hermione, I love it."
"Really?" Hermione asked eagerly.
"It's perfect," Draco leaned in and kissed Hermione again. She eagerly returned the gesture, moving closer to him as she did. He leaned into her, his tongue hungrily requesting entrance into her mouth. Her lips quickly parted, allowing his tongue to explore her mouth, until hers decided that it wanted to do a little exploring of its own. The two battled for dominance, each allowing the other to win the fight only momentarily before reentering the battle.
Once they were both out of breath, they settled on lying with each other watching Draco's new wyvern figure fly around the room. Draco was especially delighted when he found that the model could really breathe fire, albeit it was only a two inch blast at most, but it was still cool. The figure had settled itself back in its padded box and was now snoozing happily, small puffs of smoke occasionally emitting from its nostrils.
Draco was lying against Hermione's pillows, with Hermione cuddled up next to him. Draco had his eyes closed and was breathing peacefully. Hermione meanwhile was staring at the wyvern without really seeing it. "Draco?" she whispered.
Draco made a noise to indicate he had heard her.
"Can I hear the rest of the story?" she asked hopefully.
Draco breathed in deep and opened his eyes. He began stroking her hair as he started to tell the story from where he had left off. "Let's see," he began, "we left off when Ramon had escaped the wyvern and gotten into the castle."
"Yup," agreed Hermione. She anxiously cuddled closer to him, eager to hear the rest of the story.
"So, Ramon, searches through the castle until he finds the chief's daughter locked in one of the dungeon cells. But when he tries to break her out, an alarm sounds, and he suddenly finds himself surrounded by the thieves."
Draco continued the story well into the night. He told Hermione how he overcame the thieves in the castle. He told her about his adventures with the chiefs' daughter as they returned to the village. They seemed to run into every major beast Hermione had ever heard of. Dragons, manticores, even a nundu! And the wyvern seemed to constantly be pursuing them throughout the entire journey. It seemed to show up whenever they thought they were safe. Several times, Hermione found herself unconsciously holding her breath as Draco would be describing the details of one of their many dangerous encounters. It quickly became clear to Hermione why this was one of Draco's favorite stories as a child, the danger just never ended. It was early in the morning when Draco finished the story. Hermione liked the end where Ramon realized that he didn't want the reward the chief had offered. Over the course of the journey he and the daughter had fallen in love and all he wanted was to be with her. Hermione found it incredibly romantic; Draco on the other hand gagged.
"It's such a disappointing end to an otherwise awesome story," Draco mused once he was finished telling it.
"Of course that would be your interpretation," Hermione chastised. But then she smiled and gave him a sweet kiss, "thank you for telling me the end even though you didn't like it."
"Yeah well," Draco shrugged, "you probably would have read it anyway, and then I never would have heard the end of it for telling you a better ending."
Hermione laughed, "you are utterly impossible."
The next day, Draco told Hermione that he was going to spend the day with Blaise, and make sure he was feeling alright. Hermione on the other hand decided on spending the day with her friends. Draco had met up with Blaise in the Slytherin Common Room. Blaise looked an absolute mess.
"Draco, I gotta get out, I can't stand being cooped up in this castle anymore I'm going crazy," pleaded Blaise.
"What are you saying?" asked Draco skeptically.
"I don't know, can't we like go to Hogsmeade to talk about it, anything. I just can't take it here anymore!" cried Blaise.
Draco considered this. If Blaise was in Hogsmeade with him, then Hermione was definitely safe at the castle with her friends. The more he thought about it, the better the idea sounded. Plus, perhaps it would do his brain good to get away. Maybe the new surroundings would prompt a new solution that they had yet to think of.
As much as he hated to admit it, the fact that Hermione was going to spend the whole day with her friends was a big relief to Draco. Of course, as wizards and as human beings in general, Potter and Weasley were completely useless. But, as Draco knew from personal experience, they made excellent guard dogs whenever they felt Hermione was in the least amount of danger. That knowledge much better about not being with her in the castle, and even allowed him to overlook the thought that Weasley would probably be pathetically attempting to flirt with her. Without having to worry about Hermione, Draco was able to focus completely on Blaise and his initiation. The ceremony was looming closer by the second, like a vulture circling over some dead meat. Dead meat, that was exactly what Blaise would be in a week. Draco could see no visible way out, except . . . . . the thought that had been passing through his mind with annoying frequency recently. They could go to Dumbledore, Dumbledore would at least be able to keep them safe while they were at Hogwarts. Draco scowled at himself for thinking the thought yet again; asking that crazy old coot for anything would be a huge blow to Draco's pride, a blow which he was not willing to deal himself. Not to mention the fact that pitifully asking Dumbledore for help is exactly the sort of thing a Gryffindor would do, a thought which made Draco utterly disgusted with himself.
Draco was so focused on his winding train of thought that he was blind to where they were walking. If he had been paying more attention, perhaps he would have stopped sooner. Yet he remained completely unaware until they stepped inside the pub and Draco recognized his surroundings. He stopped short, they were in the Hog's Head. A place Draco was not so keen on entering ever again, yet here they were. It was too late to turn back now, and if he said anything he would look like a pathetic coward. After a questioning look from Blaise, Draco followed him to a table hidden in the corner. The table was small and wooden; there was an unlit candle in the center, and two menus lying next to the candle.
Draco could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, as if afraid someone was going to leap out and attack him if he wasn't careful. As he sat down, something deep inside him set off an alarm response. Suddenly he was jumpy and paranoid, something just wasn't right. What that something was, Draco had no chance to figure out because all his concentration was spent maintaining a cool exterior.
Blaise seemed almost unnaturally calm. In the back of his mind, it registered to Draco that Blaise's behavior was very unlike how he had been acting recently. Lately he had been panicky and constantly looking terrified, now however, he almost looked relieved.
"Let's get something to eat," suggested Blaise, "might help us think or something." Blaise slid the top menu over to his side of the table, and opened it. Draco tried to shake his unease off, but no sooner had he picked up the menu than he felt a sharp tug around the area of his navel, as if an invisible hook was pulling him through the air. The tugging ceased quickly and Draco found himself in a dungeon of sorts. He had no clue where he was, but he knew by the lack of torches on the wall that this was not a Hogwarts dungeon.
Before he even had a chance to properly gain his bearings, two massive figures covered in black cloaks lifted Draco and shoved him against the stone wall. They bound his wrists and ankles in tight chains. Draco struggled violently against them, but the men were too strong for him. He heard them grunt as he kicked at them, but it was no use, within a moment they had him tightly bound with no chance of escape.
It was only then that Draco got a proper look at them, they were not just wearing cloaks, they were wearing masks, Death Eater masks. Draco stared at them in wide eyed fury, what the hell was going on? How could he have let himself fall into a trap like this? Just then, there was a loud pop, and a third figure appeared. This one was also wearing a black cloak, but no mask. Draco could see his face perfectly, it was the face of the one he thought he could trust, it was the face of Blaise Zabini.
"What the hell is going on!" shouted Draco at Blaise.
Blaise smirked and sniggered as did the two hulking Death Eaters who had bound Draco to the wall. One other person was laughing as well, someone who Draco hadn't noticed before. But he certainly recognized that laugh. That annoying, shrill laugh belonged to Pansy Parkinson. Draco glared at her, of course he couldn't see her face behind the mask, but he could almost feel the haughty smirk she was sending him.
As Draco stared in shock at Blaise, Pansy and the other two Death Eaters, he desperately thought 'this is a dream, this is just another nightmare.' His desperation mounted when he saw a fifth Death Eater fade in from the shadows and raise his wand. The spell his Draco squarely in the chest and the white hot needles of pain from the cruciatus curse consumed his body. This was obviously not a dream, this was real life, and it was worse than Hell.
AHHH! What's going to happen to Draco! Is Hermione going to be alright!
Cue the suspenceful music
I will do my best to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. As always, reviews are welcomed and very much appreciated (they really motivate me to work hard on the next chapter too!) hint hint ;o)