Disclaimer: Same old stuff, obviously by the fact that I write fanfics, I am not J.K. Rowling, and therefore I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but I was working on a student film for 16 hours a day for 4 days, so I had no time to think about anything else for a while. Besides that, I've again been experiencing writers block for this chapter. (However I have been working on things to come later, so I have been writing tons). Anyway, thank you to all my reviewers, you guys give me the determination to continue writing even when the dreaded writers block threatens to stop me. You guys are the greatest!
jesska-14 – glad to hear you like the suspense so much! Thanks for the review!
Ice Queen – yay I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed the first fic, and are enjoying this one as well, thanks so much for the review!
Chantal J, Sunflower18, Danni Felton, zuvalupa – thanks for the reviews, glad you guys like it!
Alcapacien – yes, very evil traitor Blaise! Grrr lol I'm glad you liked the gifts, I wasn't sure if they would sound silly or not, so I'm happy to hear you liked them. Thanks for the review!
Hermione Weasley192 – You're back! Yay! Heheheh yes I know it was mean of me to leave it there, but I think the suspense makes it better. Sorry to hear about the virus, damn those computer viruses! Sorry the update took so long too, but I will do my best to post the next one sooner, I promise. Anyway, I'm happy to hear from you again, and I hope you like this chapter!
Karma Chameleon – did you get the pic of the wyvern? Basically it just had the front half of a dragon, and the back half of a snake (picture it like a dragon with only two front legs and no back legs). I hope that helps. Anyway I'm so happy that you like the suspense, and I hope you like this chapter too!
DemonicFairie – yes, his worry for Hermione blinded him to the danger he was in, so sad I know. Poor Draco. Anyway, congrats on overcoming your writers block and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Now let see what is going to happen to our hero and heroine?
Chapter 13: Phase One is Complete
Hermione decided to sleep in the day that Draco was going into Hogsmeade with his friend Zabini. Draco had been oddly vague about why he and Zabini were going into Hogsmeade. He had told her that Zabini was all alone in Slytherin house, and could probably use some company for at least a little while. But why they were going to Hogsmeade instead of staying around the castle, Draco never said. But Hermione didn't think much of it; it wasn't as if they could be up to anything in Hogsmeade after all. Besides, she was looking forward to a day of hanging around the Gryffindor common room, like the old days.
She woke up just when she felt the light from the common room hit her eyes. Usually the sunlight would have woken her much earlier, however last night she had slept in Draco's room and he still preferred to keep the drapes closed while he was sleeping. He must have seen her moving around in the bed as he was leaving, because before she opened her eyes, she felt him hovering over her. She smiled as he leaned down, kissed her lightly on the forehead, and whispered 'I love you'. She kept her eyes shut until she heard the quiet sound of the portrait door closing behind Draco as he left.
Once she was alone, she found it difficult to leave the soft comfort that was Draco's bed. She rolled over so that she was lying on her stomach, face down into Draco's pillows. She deeply breathed in his sweet pungent scent. The smell made her smile, and for a long moment she continued lying there, not particularly eager to leave. Still, she had plans for the day, so after a moment she forced herself to untangle her body from his sheets and exit his room. It didn't take her long to prepare for the day; admittedly, she didn't try as hard to make herself look as nice as she could when she knew she would not be seeing Draco. It wasn't that she looked sloppy or anything, and it wasn't as if she had meant to dress herself up ever, but unconsciously she had developed a few new beauty habits that she skipped over this morning with the thought that no one would be seeing her (or rather the thought that Draco would not be seeing her), so it didn't matter how she looked. She was a bit surprised when she realized that she had changed her usual routines for him even if it was only slightly, it wasn't that she was bothered by the idea, it just took her a bit by surprise because it had taken her so long to realize it. As she ran the brush through her thick hair she wondered just when the changes had started taking place and how she could have not noticed them for so long in the first place.
She shrugged at her reflection in the mirror, than grabbed her book bag filled with yearbook supplies and skipped down the hall to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Hermione cheerily gave the Fat Lady the password, and then stepped inside. Ginny, Ron and Harry were huddled up by the fire in much the same manner as they always stood when they were discussing something that they did not want people to overhear. "Hey guys," she said with interest, "what's going on?"
The three whipped around at the sudden interruption, but visibly relaxed when they saw it was only Hermione. "It's nothing, these two are just overreacting," answered Harry, throwing a disgruntled glance at Ron and Ginny.
"When was the last time it happened?" asked Ginny, ignoring Harry's previous statement.
"I don't know, it's been tingling a lot recently, so I'm just been ignoring it," answered Harry with frustration.
Both Hermione's and Ginny's eyed widened with surprise. Hermione now had a very good idea of what they were talking about, but before she could ask, Ginny spoke first, "But Harry, it never bothered you all morning, don't you think that's cause for concern?"
Hermione frowned, "your scar's burning again?"
Harry sighed, admitting defeat, "yeah, it's been tingling since last night, and it seems to be getting stronger."
Hermione sent Harry a look which clearly said that she agreed with Ron and Ginny, "Harry I think you should tell Dumbledore."
"Tell him what!" Harry roared, "it's not like there's anything he can do about it! And we all already know that Voldemort is out there plotting my demise."
Ron flinched at Voldemorts name, but Hermione just sighed, "He would still want to know Harry," she insisted.
After a long moment of loud silence, Ron finally spoke. "Why don't we all just go get and early lunch, then we can think about this more later."
"Honestly Ron!" cried Ginny, "is food the only thing you ever think about?"
That caused Harry and Hermione to laugh, and Ron's ears to redden. Yet it did serve to relieve some of the tension, and they still followed Ron's suggestion and trooped down to the Great Hall.
But food, Harry found, did not help. The tingling along his scar was steadily growing worse, and it was becoming harder and harder for him to ignore the dull throbbing pain. While he didn't say anything about it, his friends seemed to sense it. They kept throwing him concerned glances, which only made him angrier. He felt as though they thought he was going to spontaneously combust at any moment.
At the risk of seriously annoying Harry, Hermione was about to open her mouth to again suggest that he go talk to Dumbledore. But Ron spoke first, and after his suggestion, Hermione knew she had no chance of convincing Harry to follow her advice, even if it was loads more helpful.
"Why don't we go play quidditch Harry? That always helps," suggested Ron.
"Yeah," agreed Ginny, "Hermione and I will watch, and then Hermione you can show me how the yearbook stuff is coming."
"Alright," Harry nodded.
Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes, but other than that, made no effort to protest. 'Boys' she thought to herself, 'think that flying and quidditch solve everything!' The thought had started out with a frustrated tone, but the end had caused her to remember what it had felt like when Draco took her flying. 'Maybe on some level it does,' she shrugged to herself.
The girls waited for the boys to retrieve their broomsticks, and then together they made their way down to the quidditch pitch. It was rather cold outside, so Hermione conjured one of her portable fires too keep her and Ginny warm while they sat in the stands. Harry and Ron were passing the quaffle back and forth, pretending to be dodging other players and bludgers, and occasionally sending it soaring through one of the tall goals.
Hermione and Ginny watched them for a short while, and then Hermione pulled out the rough draft copy of the yearbook she had put together. "It's still a work in progress, and I've reserved pages for the upcoming quidditch matches and stuff like that. I know it may not look very great now, but I'm still figuring out what needs to be added." Hermione rambled.
"Hermione," interrupted Ginny, "chill out, I'm sure it's coming along great."
Ginny took the large stack of parchments that Hermione had put together and began flipping through the pages.
Hermione nervously watched on, eager to hear what Ginny had to say, and afraid that she would think it was bad. She jumped slightly when Ginny finally spoke.
"What's going here?" she asked, pointing to the blank area next to the picture of professor Dumbledore.
"Oh, That's going to be a message from Dumbledore, he hasn't gotten it back to me yet. But when he does, I was thinking of charming the message so that they make an image of a phoenix most of the time. The when you touch your wand to them, they'll transform into the message."
"Ooooo that sounds awesome Hermione. You'll have to let me know about all the little charms you put on stuff, I don't want to miss any of them!"
Hermione smiled, "don't worry; I'll definitely let you know."
Ginny continued flipping through the pages, everyone once and a while she stopped to take a closer look at something. She particularly enjoyed the photo pages, which were just collages of candid photos of the students, but they brought back the best memories.
Occasionally Hermione would interrupt in order to show Ginny a charm on one of the pages, such as the Hogsmeade section where you could tap your wand on the photos and a three dimensional image, similar to a muggle hologram, would pop off of the page and allow you to see the chosen shop up close, and it even allowed you to look inside, as if you were looking inside a dollhouse. That charm had taken Hermione a lot of work to pull off, but she was very proud of it. Yet other than that, for the most part, Hermione remained quietly watching the boys as they zoomed around the pitch.
"Awww how cute," Ginny cooed, smiling deviously at Hermione.
Hermione looked over to see what Ginny was talking about, and immediately felt a blush creeping in. Ginny had reached the seventh year student pages, which began with a spread about the Head Boy and Girl. They each got their own page, but there was one picture of the two of them together that Hermione had added one night when she had been in a particularly daring mood. She had been debating whether or not she wanted to use the photo, and in the end she gritted her teeth and added it. But now with Ginny's reaction, she seriously considered removing it. It wasn't an embarrassing photo or anything, but to her it felt very personal. She couldn't explain why, really, it was just a photo Colin Creevy had taken of the two of them specifically to put in the yearbook. They were just standing next to each other, but Hermione's photographic self was smiling wide and laughing. Meanwhile Draco's image was smirking, though not in a manner that made him look mean, and he either had his arm around Hermione's waist or the two were holding hands. Their photographic selves would look between each other, with a loving gaze, and the camera. Hermione really liked the photo, but it almost seemed to her as if she were putting far too much of her personal life out on a limb but keeping the photo in. "I don't think that's staying," Hermione said finally, "I was just trying it out, but I don't think I'm keeping it there."
"Aww come on Hermione, it's a good picture of the two of you, you should keep it," insisted Ginny.
"I don't know," mumbled Hermione.
"It's staying, I'm going to make sure of it," announced Ginny.
Hermione began giggling, though she didn't exactly know why.
Ginny was smiling and glancing over the seventh year student pages when they heard Ron scream, "HARRY!"
Both girls whipped their heads up in time to see Harry falling from his broomstick. Luckily he was not too high off the ground, and the snow cushioned his fall. "Harry!" they cried.
Hermione hastily stuffed the stack of parchments back into her bad, and followed Ginny running down to the field. By the time they reached the ground, Ron was kneeling next to Harry who was laying on the ground, clutching his scar, and moaning in agony.
"What happened?" asked Ginny, attempting to catch her breath.
"I dunno," answered Ron, "I think his scar must have suddenly started killing him or something."
Harry shut his eyes tight, trying to block out the sudden pain, which was slowly dying down. He attempted to sit up and open his eyes. Though it was difficult, as the light seemed to make his head hurt even more.
"Harry?" Hermione was on pins and needles, wondering what happened.
"Something happened," breathed Harry finally, "He's really happy about something." He couldn't explain how he knew that, but he knew that the feeling of happiness which had accompanied the pain in his scar had certainly not been his own.
"What happened Harry?" asked Hermione.
"I don't know, but whatever it is, it must be really bad, cause he's really happy," answered Harry.
"Maybe you should go to Dumbledore mate," suggested Ron cautiously.
"Yeah . . .maybe," agreed Harry finally, not knowing what else to do.
Ron helped Harry to his feet, and Ginny grabbed his broom. The group hurriedly plowed through the snow back to the castle. Suddenly all Harry could think about was getting to Dumbledore, he didn't know what had happened, but Dumbledore needed to know that something was going on.
They were traveling so fast that when Harry skidded to a halt in front of the stone gargoyle, the other three crashed into him, nearly causing him to topple over onto the ground. "Umm, fizzing whizbee," nothing happened, "ugh I don't know the password! Drooble's Best Blowing gum, acid pops," Harry began listing every sweet he could possibly think of.
"Sugar quill," stated Hermione clearly, instantly the gargoyle sprang to life and revealed the ascending spiral staircase.
Her three friends looked at her in with mild surprise. She smiled and shrugged, "one of the perks of being Head Girl is that I know the passwords to everywhere."
"Seriously?" asked Ron as they stepped onto the staircase, "I'm just surprised you're able to remember them all!"
Hermione laughed, but it didn't last long. Once the Headmasters door came into view, she and the others remembers the reason they were there. They all looked to Harry, who stepped forward and knocked on the door.
"Come in," called the soft voice of professor Dumbledore.
Harry charged in, his mouth opened and ready to talk, but he suddenly stopped short. He was surprised to see that professor Dumbledore was not alone in his office; professor Snape was there was well. For a moment, Harry just stared at professor Snape with his mouth agape, for some reason, he didn't want to talk in front of Snape. Perhaps it was because of the hateful glare that Snape's cold black eyes were sending him.
"Was there something you all wanted to tell me?" asked Dumbledore quietly. His voice was calm, but his twinkling eyes were penetrating. The sent Harry that look that said that even if he didn't actually tell Dumbledore what had happened, the old man would somehow know. Harry let out a breath, conceding to tell Dumbledore anyway.
"Well professor, I was just outside on the quidditch pitch when my scar suddenly started burning." Harry suddenly felt incredibly stupid and childish when he saw the way Snape was sneering at him. "It had been tingling and growing stronger since last night. But when it happened, I suddenly felt really happy." Harry felt incredibly lame, but he looked to Dumbledore for advice anyway.
Dumbledore suddenly looked very alert; Snape meanwhile was looking more furious than ever; his eyes flashing at Harry, though Harry had no idea why Snape would be any angrier with him than usual. Dumbledore bent his head down, apparently thinking very hard. He sent Harry one more penetrating gaze than nodded, "Thank you for telling me Harry. If it happens again, please let me know. For the time being, I think it best that everyone remain in the castle for the rest of the break."
Hermione suddenly gasped slightly, everyone turned to her. "Yes Miss Granger?" asked Dumbledore, now directing his penetrating gaze at her.
"Oh," mumbled Hermione, caught off guard by the sudden attention, "nothing, I thought I left something in the quidditch stands, but I put it in my bag," she lied hoping against hope that Dumbledore didn't see through her.
Dumbledore looked at her skeptically, but chose not to press the matter. "If that is all, then I suggest you all return to Gryffindor tower for the rest of today, and please do not go wandering."
The four students nodded, and then slowly turned and trooped out the door. They were all silent as they made their way back to the common room, Harry, Ron and Ginny were preoccupied with thoughts about Harry's scar and what it meant. But Hermione was thinking about someone else. Draco, had he and Zabini gotten permission to leave the school grounds? Hermione doubted it; Draco wasn't really the type to ask for permission. Did the burning in Harry's scar have anything to do with him? Hermione tried to convince herself that it was a coincidence, but it was a loosing battle. She had known that Draco was in danger ever since she had found out that Lucius escaped. Hermione bit her lip, was he alright? Surely nothing would happen to him while he was with Zabini right? But Hermione knew that it wouldn't matter to Lucius or to Voldemort if Draco was with another person, if they wanted revenge they would get it.
Hermione didn't know why she hadn't confessed to Dumbledore about Draco being in Hogsmeade. She supposed that part of her was afraid of getting him in trouble for no reason. But another part of her felt that if she told on him then it would mean that he was really in danger, and that part of her would rather pretend that he was fine than face the idea that he could be hurt. She shook her head, 'calm down Hermione, he's probably fine,' she told herself. By the time they were back in the common room, she had made a deal with herself that if he wasn't back by dinner time, she'd tell Dumbledore, but until then, she was not going to worry.
Once the students had left Dumbledore's office, he sighed and held his head in his hands. "Severus," he breathed, "do you have any idea of what may be going on?"
"No Headmaster," said Snape coldly, "it seems as if the Dark Lord no longer trusts me enough to tell me about all his plans."
Dumbledore nodded solemnly, "yes." There was a long pause in which neither man moved, "yet I must ask, if you ever hear anything, even the slightest bit of information, as always, please inform me as soon as possible."
"Of course Headmaster, I will do my best."
"Thank you Severus," nodded professor Dumbledore with a small note of finality in his voice.
Snape nodded, taking the hint, he swept out of the office. His black cloak billowing out behind him as it always did.
Dumbledore watched the potions master exit, and once he was gone, he sighed. He removed his half-moon spectacles and held his head in his hands, feeling older and wearier than ever. He lifted himself from his chair to retrieve his penseive. His thoughts were swirling ceaselessly both in the basin and in his head. He began removing select thoughts from his head and adding them to the penseive to examine them more closely. He desperately hoped that he would spot a clue, or a trend, anything that would let him know what was going on and what Voldemort was up to.
"What the hell are you doing? Have you been completely corrupted!" Draco roared at Blaise, who was standing off to the side wearing a smug expression.
"No, but you have," said Pansy as she, along with the other three Death Eaters lowered their hoods. Draco looked upon them with a mix of shock and horror, but he was unsurprised to see that the two who had chained him up were none other than his former cronies Crabbe and Goyle. And the one who had cast the cruciatus curse on him was of course Lucius. As he glared at the approaching Death Eaters, he could not believe that he hadn't seen it coming; he had been so preoccupied with Hermione's safety that he had completely forgotten to watch out for his own. In the back of his mind had been wondering when it would happen, when they would decide to punish him for his disobedience, but he had no idea that his one trusted friend in Slytherin would be among them. 'A trap,' he thought with despair, 'it was all just a trap; Hermione was never the one in danger. I've been so stupid.'
Pansy, smirking at the look on Draco's face, continued talking as she stalked towards him, "now we intend to straighten you out again. Soon you won't be able to recall whatever the hell it was you saw in that mudblood in the first place!" she spat as she pressed herself up against Draco. Draco squirmed and attempted to get away, but being chained to the wall made any sort of movement rather impossible. "Soon you will be back where you belong," she continued seductively, she raised her hand to his face and lightly brushed back the locks of hair that were half covering his eyes. He jerked his head away and glared down at her, but that didn't stop her from smiling with a look that could only be described as sweet, seductive evil.
The silence of the room was pressing in on Draco; his ears were pounding with the intense sensations running through him, fear being the number one feeling, followed closely by hatred. Draco barred his teeth at Pansy, but she suddenly leaned in and kissed Draco hard on his mouth. He tried to turn his head away and yell in protest, but her surprisingly strong grip prevented him from moving his face. He was wildly making noises of protest, and he absolutely refused to kiss her back. His consternation only served to encourage Pansy; she pressed her lips harder to his so much so that it almost hurt. She then forced her tongue past his lips, not caring how much he protested. When she finally broke the kiss, Draco spat on the floor, and Pansy licked her lips slowly and smiled devilishly at him as she backed away slightly.
"You bitch!" Draco spat, "And what the hell are you doing with them Blaise, I thought you wanted out!"
Blaise snorted with cruel laughter, "And you believed me? Honestly Draco, you're turning into more of a Gryffindor every day, soon you'll be more pathetic than Potter! Imagine a Slytherin actually trusting someone other than himself, and to think there was a time when we all looked up to you." Blaise sneered at Draco with absolute revulsion.
The realization that Blaise had been lying to him for months hit Draco hard, he, the traitor to the Dark Lord was chained to a wall in a room with five Death Eaters. He had no visible means of escape and no one who knew where he was, he didn't even know exactly where he was. He held his head up high, mustering up all the pride he could in his present situation, and curling his lips into a sneer at his former friends. "What are you going to do to me?"
Blaise stepped forward to answer, "We're just going to help you see the error of your ways and get you back on track. We know that the old Draco is still in there somewhere," Pansy tore Draco's shirt open and traced her fingers over his chest as Blaise spoke.
Blaise rolled his eyes at Pansy's actions, but didn't comment on them. "And I'm sure in no time you won't need our help to see where you belong, but for the time being," Blaise stepped aside and turned toward a darkened corner. "He is ready Master!"
Draco stared wide-eyed with fear at the figure that stepped out of the darkness. The figure seemed to glide rather than walk, much like a dementor. He stopped next to Lucius, a smirk playing on his lips. Lucius meanwhile viewed Draco with the same loathing and hatred that he usually reserved for mudbloods and Potter. But Draco took no notice of Lucius, or of any other person in the room, including Pansy whose fingers were inching dangerously close to the top of Draco's pants. No, the one he feared, the one who was consuming all of his attention was the figure standing next to Lucius, none other than the Dark Lord himself, Lord Voldemort.
"So" began the Dark Lord. His voice was surprisingly high, yet at the same time it was colder than ice, and it sent chills of terror through Draco's spine. Draco kept his jaw tightly clenched in an effort to maintain a strong and closed composure as Pansy finally backed away. "Draco Malfoy, we finally meet. I must say, I was rather disappointed that we were not introduced at the beginning of the summer like I had planned. But no matter, you shall join us anyway; it matters not to me whether you join us voluntarily or through force." Voldemort paused to let his word sink in.
Draco did his best not to look as terrified as he felt. Apparently he was doing a good job for when Voldemort spoke; there was a twisted amusement in his tone. "Lucius I must say, I had my doubts about your son, but indeed he seems even stronger than you claimed. Look at him showing no fear in the face of the Dark Lord." Voldemort stepped closer to Draco, and lowered his voice so that it was barely above a whisper. Yet no matter how quietly he spoke, Draco caught every word loud and clear. "I admire those with strength Draco. When you join my ranks, you will be among the most elite wizards in the wizarding world." Lord Voldemort inched towards Draco, "Now, I will give you one last opportunity to join willingly, make your choice."
Draco stared into Voldemorts eyes unblinking. He didn't want to think about the torture he would experience if he rebelled again. But the thought of what had happened last year, all he had gone through opposing the Dark Lord. He knew that he couldn't just give up that easily, he'd come too far to give up now. Yet doubt and indecision still swirled through him. Voldemort was regarding him patiently, with a cold expression. He did not bother to hurry Draco along; he had all the time in the world to wait, and no matter what the young Malfoy decided Lord Voldemort knew he would get his way.
In the end, after many long moments of silence, what ultimately made up Draco's mind was the memory of what had happened in the Hog's Head last year. When Hermione had heard him faltering, she burst in to protect him, she had given him his determination back. And he was not about to repay her courage and faith in him by giving into Voldemort now.
With a scowl and a deep breath, he stared directly into Lord Voldemort's blood-red eyes and mustered up courage he never even knew he had. He shouted "I will never join your ranks! I will NEVER be a Death Eater!"
Lucius moved first, for the second time that night he aimed his wand at Draco's heart and shouted "CRUCIO!" Draco was still numb from the last torture; he completely lost all support from his legs, so he was literally hanging against the wall by his wrists. The chains were cutting into his skin, and he could no longer breathe. When the curse was finally released, Draco was left hanging and coughing up blood uncontrollably. He could feel a stream of blood trailing down his neck from hitting his head against the stone wall. But he couldn't feel any pain; all he felt was numb tingling running through his veins. He seemed unable to feel anything anymore.
The five Death Eaters wore matching menacing grins, and Voldemort chuckled cruelly, "Very well. Now you shall learn that no one opposes Lord Voldemort!" he pointed his wand squarely at Draco's chest, "IMPERIO!"
Draco, who had been expecting to be killed, was shocked to be hit with the imperius curse. He had been hit with it a few times before, twice in Defense Against the Dark Arts class his fourth year by professor Moody, who Lucius had afterwards told Draco had really been a Death Eater in disguise. The other times, Draco had nearly been able to fight off the curse, but this time he didn't even have a chance. All his free will and decision making capabilities were instantly stolen from him. A light-headed sense of emptiness now filled the space once occupied by his thoughts. Now the only voice he heard in his head was the high-pitched snakelike voice of evil. Lord Voldemort was now controlling Draco's every move.
UH OH! This can't be a good turn of events for our two lovebirds!
I know this chapter was a bit shorter than the ones I've been writing lately, but I hope the movement in plot makes up for short length. As always reviews are much appreciated, and I will do my best to get the next chapter to you as soon as possible!