Disclaimer: see chapter I
A/N: Thanks for your reviews!
Grey
Chapter IV
Harry watched his friend quietly while she watched Ron going over his Charms essay. She seemed a bit sad lately. He wondered why. He looked down at his own essay and grimaced. He was getting nowhere. He sighed, frustrated. He just couldn't concentrate on his work.
"Hey, Harry, let me see that." Hermione leaned towards him, gesturing to his essay. He pushed it towards her, watching her face as she went through it.
"It ain't that bad, Harry. You just need to organise your notes a bit different. Start out with a small introduction, then put down your theory and the reason behind it... You see here, this whole paragraph could be put here, and if you write your conclusion there, it will..." He tuned out her words as he listened to Ron, who had finished his essay, and Lavender discussing the trip to Hogsmeade tomorrow.
"It's the last opportunity to buy Christmas gifts, so I want to go in extra early! I've lots of shopping to do, but I want to meet you at two at the Three Broomsticks. "
"If you think you can't make it at two, you just have to say so... Half an hour later isn't such a big deal." Ron offered.
"You silly! Of course I want to meet you at two! That's why I go in early!" She slapped him playfully on the arm.
"Harry? Are you listening? Look, if you rewrite this couple of sentences and w-"
"Can we do this later, Sunday or so? I really can't concentrate right now. Probably tired. We only have to hand it in on Monday, anyway." He leaned towards Ron and said chuckling: "You better accept this deal, Ron."
"You should listen to Harry. We'll have enough time left, you know. And I have to do shopping. You do want a Christmas present, now don't you," Lavender said coyly.
"Of course! I already know what I'm going to buy for you," Ron replied, giving her a mysterious smile.
"Oh! What? Come on, tell me!"
"Nope. You'll have to wait till Christmas!" Ron teased the practically bouncing Lavender.
"Oh, not fair! You shouldn't make me all curious. Quit teasing me," she said giggling and she gave Ron a soft push.
"Hey!" Ron tried to appear indignant, and he pushed softly back.
"You!" Lavender squealed and slapped him playfully on his chest.
"Well, you started it!"
"Oh, I did not." Harry grinned at the antics of his best friend and his housemate. They were actually quite cute together. He looked to his side at Hermione, but she wasn't there anymore. Probably off to the library or something. He grabbed his essay and stuffed it thoughtlessly in his bag. Sunday was early enough to finish it, he figured.
"Hey, Miss Granger, what are you doing here so late? Curfew is in two hours." Madam Pomfrey's face showed her surprise.
"I was getting... bored in my common room. Do you mind if I read to Draco for a while? In about an hour and an half, I have prefect duty, so I'll be gone then."
"It's not that, and you know it, Miss Granger. You're spending increasingly more time here. Though it may help Mr. Malfoy, you still have to think about yourself. You want to spent time with your friends and such. Relaxing is important too."
"But I do relax, Madam Pomfrey. You don't have to worry about me."
"Hmmm..." Madam Pomfrey took in the somewhat pale skin and red eyes. "Something else the matter?"
"N-No... Not at all. I'm fine, really. Mr. Malfoy is alone, now?" Hermione inquired carefully. She didn't want to run into Malfoy senior again if she could help it. That man still scared her and his strange speech a week ago didn't do anything to put her more at ease. No, quite the opposite actually; it only made her more aware that the man was very dangerous and quite unpredictable. The way he had watched her... like a predator searching for the weak spots.
"Yes. His father left half an hour ago. Now, go on and read to the lad. I'm sure he will appreciate it."
She settled herself in the comfortable chair and opened her book. As she started to read, she felt herself calm down and her sadness disappear while she immersed herself into the adventures of Men, Hobbits, Dwarves and Elves.
Hermione was practically running to keep up with Harry's hurried, long strides.
"Where are we going, anyway?" She breathed.
"Dervish and Banges; they have the newest Nimbus for sale there! I want to take a look!"
Oh, joy. Her face turned sour as she saw the almost obsessed look in Harry's eyes. Boys and Quidditch. She had to admit, she was quite fond of soccer, but she never took it as far as the average Quidditch fan.
Now she was standing in a crowd in front of the window of the shop, trying, like everyone else, to get a glimpse of the newest Nimbus. Did she dare to say out loud she didn't see any differences between Harry's Firebolt and this new broom?
She cast a glance at Harry's slightly dreamy look and decided against it.
"Hermione, I'm going in, you coming?" She threw one look at the even larger crowd in the shop and shook her head.
"No... I think I'm going to Scrivenshaft's. See you later, all right?"
"Yeah, don't forget. Two o'clock in the Three Broomsticks."
She watched her friend disappear into the crowd, then turned around and began to lazily stroll towards the quills shop. No, she wouldn't forget. Though she sometimes wondered if her friends didn't forget about her! She frowned at her own self-pity. Really, she was better than this! This was just how her relationship was with her two friends. They were boys and she, though they tended to forget, was a girl. She sometimes had other interests than her friends. Yes, even others than reading and studying.
She sometimes thought that they forgot on purpose that she was a girl. It made everything a whole lot easier; she wasn't a girl, not a boy... For them, she was maybe... sexless? Or something like that. She let out a frustrated sigh. She had to get a grip on her own train of thoughts. Sometimes it went into the strangest directions!
Still, it didn't hide the fact that sometimes, and this year in particular, she felt ignored. Also, there was a gap growing between them. She still couldn't forget about the argument they had on the night Malfoy was attacked... Sometimes, their rigidity towards certain matters worried her. Of course, she wanted the Death Eaters brought to justice and Voldemort gone for good. But... Well, showing compassion wasn't that bad? And Draco Malfoy wasn't even a real Deatheater yet!
She was so deep in thoughts that she almost passed the shop by. She tried to empty her head as she watched the beautiful quills and writing material.
It didn't work. She thought back to the Department of Mysteries, still feeling the horror and the fear like it was yesterday. The Deatheaters with their eerie masks and hoods, the horrible curses flying around. The depraved pleasure they took in hurting other people... And the moment when that curse hit her and she lost consciousness. Waking up was awful, as she had gone down with her friends on her mind. She had woken up calling for Harry and Ron and Ginny and... She rummaged through the shop, looking through their impressive collection but in reality she saw the events of that day.
"Miss Granger." Came the sudden, arrogant drawl from behind her.
Hermione nearly jumped a foot in the air at hearing the voice pierce through her memories. But the most startling thing was to who the voice belonged to.
For a moment she thought she was back, back at the Department of Mysteries, back into the fight.
She reached for her wand. Just as she felt a heavy hand land on her shoulder.
"Calm down, Miss Granger." He pushed down her wand-wielding arm, as she was pointing her wand straight at his throat. She just imagined it or did she saw just a flash of... amusement?
It was confirmed though, as a lazy smile appeared on his face.
"Quite fast you are, Miss Granger. I'm sorry if I gave you a fright."
"I-I am sorry for going at your throat like that." She spoke, not meaning a word of what she just said.
And he knew. "Apology accepted." He stared at her with cold, greedy eyes, assessing her.
When his lips curled in a smirk and his eyes shone with a sense of pleased satisfaction, he had apparently found what he had been looking for. His eyes stared at her with an ever greater intensity and she could almost feel the scrutiny of his gaze.
Unconsciously, she started to move around him, heading towards the direction in which she knew the entrance of the shop laid. The dangerous intentions she read in him frightened her even further. She just wanted to get away from him.
She had forgotten though about the hand that laid on her shoulder. His hold on her shoulder tightened, almost painfully so. It froze her in her movements, making her stare up at him with poorly veiled horror.
"Now, Miss Granger, you didn't appear to be in a hurry when I saw you walking towards the shop... It's also not very polite to walk away from a conversation. Or..." His voice had dropped in volume and the low, husky sound made her terribly uncomfortable, "Or, you don't feel very comfortable in my company... Scared, Miss Granger?"
She bit her lip and stared bravely back at him. "Let go of my shoulder, please, Mr. Malfoy."
His grip didn't let up. "I would like to have a polite conversation with you, Miss Granger. If you keep running away from me, I have to make you stay in one way or another."
"I don't want to have a conversation with you!" She said softly, but vehemently. "I... I- If you don't let go, I'll-" Where were those clerks when you needed them? She looked around but found she had wandered into a secluded part of the shop. She didn't saw or hear another person.
"You'll do what? Scream? Curse me? I know you want to, little girl," he raked down his eyes over her petite figure, effectively intimidating her with his imposing stature. "You and your friends want revenge for Black of course. You too blame me for his death, I presume? And for everything else that went wrong the last couple of years?" His hand moved from her shoulder to her upper arm and clenched around it, suddenly hauling her towards him. He brought his face close to hers and continued in a harsh whisper:
"You and your friends certainly were enraged when you heard about me leaving Azkaban and getting a full pardon. Weren't you? Such justified anger... Surely your friends wanted to seek me out and teach me a few things. Get their revenge and such things. I wonder; would you have accompanied them, girl? Would you have stood by and watch them curse me, if they managed to come near enough? Would you have joined them? Or would you have waited, waited for justice or your precious Order to bring me to my deserved faith? Because I hardly doubt you would have gone after me... I see right through you. I doubt you would be able to really hurt a person, just for getting your fun or revenge... You're weak in that respect. I could stand here now, daring you, threatening you and you wouldn't retaliate. You couldn't. Only for your friends you would fight, isn't that so? You're loyal to a fault. Like a true Gryffindor." He lowered his head even further, till his mouth was whispering in her ear, his warm breath ruffling the soft hairs in her neck. She shivered, wanting nothing more to get away from him! His presence overwhelmed her, making her dizzy with fright.
"You would defend your loved ones till your death, but to really hurt someone just for your own pleasure or sense of rightness... No. My little Gryffindor, you are quite a rare treasure." His hand was gripping her arm so tightly, she was sure there would be bruises.
"Still, you want revenge don't you? For the peace of mind of your friend Potter. I heard he is steadily becoming more and more unstable. I bet you're worried for your friend. You want to ease his suffering and grief, don't you? Bring me, every Deatheater, to justice, and you hope that miraculously, your dear friend will be better."
"No," she brought out, teeth clenched. "He will never get really 'better' as you say. It will always leave a scar."
"Ah, but you want him to mourn peacefully, not being swallowed by that brimming, insane anger, don't you? You want him to cope with his loss, not suppress it with a vengeful rage and mindless hate. I know what you fear; he will loose his head, charging into battle without his senses, getting himself killed, just like Black. It is very likely, indeed. The Dark lord doesn't even have to do anything; the stupid boy will get himself killed." There was dark amusement in his voice.
She tried to pry his grip off of her. "Yeah, you and your master would like that very m-"
He slapped her hands away with his free hand. "Hold still, foolish girl. I'm not done with you yet! Don't you want to help your friend? I can help you. I can give you the revenge and satisfaction he so desperately needs..." He suddenly let her go and she stumbled a few steps back.
"Think about it. I'll see you tonight." With that, he turned on his heels and walked away with his head held high, a satisfied look on his face, as arrogant as ever.
Hermione trembled and leaned against a couple of shelves. What did just happen? What did he say? What was he talking about? She brought her hand to her forehead, which had started to ache. What did he mean, seeing her tonight? When she was visiting Draco? She pushed herself away from the shelves, wobbling on her feet. She felt really miserable all of a sudden.
She walked slowly out of the shop, shivering, half-dazed. She made her way over to the Three Broomsticks, and stepped inside, looking for her friends. The noise and crowd in the inn made her momentarily hesitate, as it all seemed suddenly so imposing on her. Still, she carefully made her way through the crowd, searching the room for her friends.
As she moved past the staircase, she shuddered. She would never go up there anymore.
Finally, she spotted her friends, laughing and drinking butterbeer. She sat down next to Harry and greeted them. She tried to be cheerful but it wasn't working. She sat shivering, clutching her hands around a bottle of butterbeer, but she didn't drink; the thought alone made her nauseous.
Harry was busily discussing something about Herbology with Neville, while trying to avoid the wild gesturing of Seamus who tried to explain something to Parvati. Ron and Lavender sat somewhat apart, talking quietly with each other. She tried listening to Harry and Neville's conversation, but couldn't keep her attention to it. After half an hour or so, she decided there was only one thing she wanted to do; go back to Hogwarts. She didn't know if she wanted to crawl into her bed or hide into the library, but she wanted the safe, comforting feeling only Hogwarts could provide.
"Guys, I'm going back to Hogwarts." A few absent goodbyes and waves were sent her way and despite herself she felt slightly annoyed that they didn't even notice she was upset. And they apparently didn't really mind she was leaving so soon! But she quickly forgot about those thoughts as her encounter with Lucius Malfoy kept nagging at her.
She wrapped her arms around her as she walked the windy road back to Hogwarts. The temperature was below freezing and the biting wind chilled her through her cloak. It promised snow.
She was cold inside and out as she entered Hogwarts, going up the numerous staircases towards the Gryffindor tower. She nodded to the first and second year students as she went up towards her dormitory. She hurriedly stepped under a hot shower, letting the water soothe her stiff muscles and heating up her skin. Though it did nothing for the cold fear in her stomach; despite the hot water the occasional shudder went through her as she thought back to the encounter in Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop.
Maybe she wouldn't go see Draco tonight. She just couldn't. Maybe it was cowardly of her but she just didn't want to deal with Malfoy senior again! Not tonight, not ever!
Review Responses!!
Bloodfire: Another LM/HG lover! Great! I hope you'll like this plot I'm working on!
Kellalor: Thanks! I try hard to keep everyone in character, and am kind of relieved you think they are!
Artemis Moonclaw: Thanks again for pointing out the mistake in chapter three! It really embarrasses me when I found out that I missed that! Thanks!
Anni: Hope you liked this chapter too!
Donroth: Don't worry, you don't! And I very much like your praise!
Shiro Ryu: Thanks for taking your time to read this story. I hope I'll keep you interest in this story and this pairing!
Blue Jay: Draco's not going to wake up any time soon, I think. Don't worry too much about him though! And about Narcissa... I sure haven't forgotten about her; she'll make an appearance, though maybe not in the way you think... !!