Title: Tangled up in Darkness
Author: Tzippi Meshugah
Summery: War changes people, in ways we never would have known. Old rivalries are put behind us as we forge new alliances. War is upon us now and Hogwarts is changing. Students that were light are going dark, arch enemies are joining together and becoming friends. Unimaginable sacrifices will be made and it all comes down to the final battle to determine who will be victorious and what the consequences of that victory will be. We are tangled up in darkness and we must escape before the light flickers out for good. Narrated by Millicent Bulstrode.
Tangled up in Darkness
Chapter5
Silence can be golden and it can kill. The temptation to talk is overwhelming, but the knowledge that such a mysterious thing as silence cannot be broken lingers in the air. Silence can break up friendships and create ones that never would have occurred otherwise. It can be thick, deafening, awkward or serene. It all depends on the context. The silence that hovered over Gryffindor house was in a way, all of the above.
The fight that broke up the Golden Trio loitered heavily in the air leaving a thick atmosphere of silence in its wake. It overpowered the laughter of friends and the sobbing of the broken hearted so much, that staying in the common room more than what was absolutely necessary was enough to result in a painful headache and difficulty hearing. Seeing the glares the Golden trio shot each other through the thick smoke, and their stubborn refusal to be the first to apologize made standing in their midst an awkward position. At the same time, there were no fights, just a serene silence hovering over them all. It may be contradictory, and yet all those forms of silence have managed to wrap the Gryffindors in an envelope sealed off from the rest of the school. Remarkably it's all caused by the fight of three friends.
Who would have known that they alone were the ones that held together everything that Gryffindor stood for? Together they could do great things; alone they have strengths and weaknesses. Ron's temper flares high at the slightest offence and without Harry and Hermione to cool him off, he lands himself in trouble time after time. His sense of direction was never his own and now he is alone and stranded in the dark. He has a chance to forge his own path, but he cannot navigate himself out of his isolated existence.
Harry cannot stay above water without the encouragement of his friends. He is slowly slipping below the surface into depression as the growing hate burning in his soul tries to push him back to the top for another deep breath. He has nowhere to turn in the twirling whirlpool he calls: "his life". His angsty personality causes him to spontaneously lash out at those around him as if they are all against him. He clings tight to the aura of love that used to surround him, and rises above and beyond his limits because there is nobody to hold him back.
Out of the three, Hermione fared best, without her friends she has no reason to remain loyal so she doesn't. Ambition, observance and a sly way of thinking slowly resurface in her. They resided in her deep down all along, but now they are breaking to the surface, each day growing more evident, for the reason that it is how she was destined to be from the very beginning. She was always the weak know-it-all who was willing to do anything for her friends. Now, her backbone is forming as she grows into the sharp witted person she was fated to become. Slytherin powers are rising in her as she turns toward her enemy house as a place of welcome and comfort. The mask she used to wear is scarcely present. She still knows everything when it comes to school, but her observance and newly opened eyes lead her to see the truth about every one of her school mates as well. Her new mask is forming to be the distant coldness that meant Slytherin, but it will always be translucent, the six years she spent in Gryffindor will never truly leave her. People can be altered but they never will truly change.
"Is Hermione here?" Ron asked from the doorway to the muggle literature.
"I can't imagine what you would want with her, she's not apologizing." I snapped coldly preparing to slam the door in his face.
"I can speak for myself, Millicent." Hermione said coldly, the style of how we treated each other in public, placing her book on the table.
"Of course," I said offhandedly, a sneer plastered on my face.
"What is it Ronald? Please make it quick."
"I've been thinking," he began.
"That's something new. I can't say I've ever seen you do that before." Hermione snapped.
"Gosh darn it Hermione, I'm trying to apologize!" He screamed. Madame Pince shot him a dirty look and a blush rose up his face.
"Maybe you better step inside," I said grabbing his arm in my strong death grip and dragging him into the room.
"Don't touch me! I don't need help from some stupid Slytherin!" He retorted and over his shoulder I saw Blaise shoot a silencing spell at the door which had closed behind Ron. I stepped back from the red head and stared coldly into his eyes, in turn, he flinched and turned away.
"I wanted to speak to Hermione in private."
"Oh, go right ahead, pretend we're not here." I said casually, flipping open the cover to Hermione's discarded book.
"But…" He protested, his voice trailing off.
"You're wasting my time, Weasley." Hermione said glancing at her watch and tapping her foot impatiently. Ron gasped at the use of his sure name and immediately looked at the floor.
"I came to apologize, I know it took me three months to realize, but you were right as usual and I'm sorry for how I treated you. I guess I was just jealous." Ron mumbled still staring at the floor. Hermione's eyes softened a bit.
"What you did was cruel and uncalled for. You should have been happy to see that I was alive. I will accept your apology, but don't think even for a moment that things are going back to the way they used to be until you prove yourself again." Hermione said sternly.
"Fair enough I suppose. Will you come to Hogsmeade with Harry and me this weekend?"
"Yes, now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be right now." She replied opening the door. She looked over her shoulder and winked at Blaise and me, indicating that she wanted to meet us here later.
"You wanted to see me professor?" Hermione asked, stepping into Minerva McGonagall's office. Her eyes swept around the small room quickly, taking in her surroundings. A small oak desk loaded with parchment sat in the center of the light maroon room. Matching oak shelves lined the walls filled from top to bottom with books, some in poor condition from age. Stairs, built up the sides of one of the book cases led to the oak door of her private chambers.
"Yes, I did Miss. Granger," the tall old professor answered gesturing at the strait backed oak chair on the other side of her desk. "Biscuit?" She asked, holding a tin out to Hermione.
"Sure," Hermione said, selecting one from the tin.
Professor McGonagall selected one for herself and took a bite, deep in thought, considering how would be best to word her question.
"Is there something going on between you, Harry and Ron?" she asked finally.
"What would make you say that?" Hermione asked, nibbling the inside of her lip, trying to keep the nervous edge out of her voice.
"Many things Miss. Granger, for one, I've noticed you spending an awful lot of time with Slytherins, which I am very pleased to see. House unity is important right now. I've also noticed that Harry and Ron are not with you. Ron spends time with the other Gryffindor boys from your house, and Harry spends most of his time alone. Another one is of your essays; yours are still as brilliant as usual, but Harry and Ron's are often short, poorly worded, and they're missing the phrase that I've seen reoccurring for the past six years, According to a reliable source… the reliable source being you or your paper." Professor McGonagall said leaning back in her chair waiting for Hermione's response.
"Well, we've been in a fight for the past few months," she admitted. Professor McGonagall said nothing, but the look in her eyes told Hermione that she should elaborate. "This summer when I was supposedly dead they were very distraught. Upon seeing me at Hogwarts, they were very angry to know that I had kept my life a secret from them. I explained the situation to them as best I could, but they are rather stubborn."
"As are you Miss Granger. It pains me to see such actions in my house. We are trying to unite the school, and while you have somehow managed to gain Slytherin acceptance, inner-house rivalry cannot be a consequence of that." Professor McGonagall said, getting to her feet.
"If you have not already, please forgive Ron and Harry, even if it's not for anything more than setting a good example for the younger years."
"I already did, and professor, I have a question for you."
"Yes?"
"Well, in my first year, the Sorting hat had difficulty placing me. Ravenclaw was one house it considered, the other one was Slytherin. In fact it said that I was better suited for that than Gryffindor, and because of this it was putting me in Gryffindor to unite both houses. Why would it do that?"
"That is a difficult question to answer. You should address Dumbledore with that question. The impression I get from this is the hat might have some sort of future telling abilities. That is one of the factors it takes into account at the sorting. It views you and your role in the world based on what it can see of the outcome of placing you in each house, one by one. Then it takes into account your past and present. After all those factors are considered, it sorts you. I'm not entirely certain though."
"That was my reasoning also," Hermione said, getting to her feet and exiting the small office.
Minerva McGonagall stared at the door as it closed behind her, wondering again how the most strait-forward witch in her year was so twisted. Shaking her head slightly, she exited the room as well in search of the headmaster. She would not be surprised if he already knew this latest bit of information.
Hermione sat in the Great Hall and stared up at the snowflakes falling from the enchanted ceiling. She was the only one in Gryffindor house ready, but the others would be awake soon, it was a Hogsmeade weekend. A huge figure moving across the grounds to the grove of evergreen trees told her that she was not the only one awake in the castle. Hagrid was already chopping down trees to set up in the Great Hall. Hermione looked at the list of items she needed to buy in Hogsmeade and hoped she had enough money. On the top of the list in Capital block letters was to meet Ginny to help her pick out a dress for the upcoming Christmas dance.
Next on her list were presents. She had already picked out most of them from a magazine, but she still needed one for Draco Malfoy. Though the two were still not friends, he was more acceptant of her and had not called her a Mudblood since the day she had been in the common room for the first time. Even though no present would ever buy his friendship, she thought he deserved a thank you for his tolerance of her.
She was startled from her thoughts by someone plopping down beside her. "Knut for your thoughts?" the familiar rich voice of Blaise Zabini asked, a smirk plastered across his face.
"Keep your Knut; I'm not thinking anything of value."
"Nothing about me, your favorite Slytherin?" He teased, groaning inwardly realizing the hint he had just dropped and hoped she had taken his words as a joke and not seriously.
"Well, if you must know, I was wondering, since you're so kind to animals, why won't you give that face back to the gorilla?"
"Because the gorilla won't take it back, he seemed rather glad to be rid of it." Blaise said, getting to his feet and walking away.
Hermione skipped out of the Dress shop, her coin bag considerably lighter, she had found the perfect dress and it was being sent strait to her dorm. Before that, she had found the ideal present for Draco Malfoy, all in all it had been a very productive day. She stopped suddenly, Slytherins did not skip. It showed joy. Setting her face into its expressionless mask, she headed slowly for the Three Broomsticks to meet Harry and Ron. Halfway there she stopped again, she was not a Slytherin. Thoughts whirled about her head as she tried to imagine why that thought had even come to mind. The sorting hat's words echoed loudly, reverberating off her skull as they sailed through her head. She was becoming the person destiny had called on her to be, a Slytherin at heart and soul. The thought sunk into her head, smoldering as it burned a path to her brain and established itself there. Oddly, she was not upset for that realization to hit her. It was hard to believe that only a few months prior to this, she would have committed suicide rather than become who she was fated to be.
Destiny frightened her. She hated to imagine that she had no control over her life and every action, every thought was mapped out. Who was the one controlling her life? Did they have a good life planned for her, or a tragic young death? Shaking those thoughts out of her head as well, she returned her expression to the unfriendly Slytherin classic, and continued on her way.
As she turned the corner, onto a deserted section of the street which served as a short cut, an interesting site met her gaze. Draco Malfoy's pug faced girlfriend was backed into a wall by three dementors. Hermione stared at her coldly, this was not her concern. Pansy was not her house mate, and she had no obligation to help. But they were blocking the path she needed to take, and it would only require a few seconds of her time to frighten them away, while it would take far longer to go around and she was already late.
"Back away from her now!" Hermione yelled, her blue eyes flickering threateningly.
One of the Dementors broke away from the pack and headed for her. Hermione began to panic inwardly, still holding her expressionless mask as her deepest fears began to replay themselves in her head. Why didn't I just go around? She wondered. Being stuck on a deserted section of the street being backed into a wall, be dementors and Pansy was on the ground whimpering in a fetal position as dementors tried to suck out her soul was not her usual method of having fun. Raising her wand to the dementor's chest, she brought her happiest memory to mind and shouted "Riddikulus!" An otter burst out of her wand and chased down the three dementors who disappeared leaving a trail of wispy smoke in their wake. Breathing a huge sigh of relief that she had not been cracked like Pansy, she turned toward the feeble girl who was rocking on the ground.
She touched the girl lightly on the arm. Pansy shrieked loudly and began to sob. "Shhhh, it's alright Pansy, they're gone."
"You saved my life, Hermione." Pansy said, looking at Hermione with a new respect in her eyes. Hermione beamed, Pansy had used her first name for the first time. The sound of running feet on the cobblestone walkway caused Hermione to jump slightly.
"Get away from my girlfriend, Granger!" Draco Malfoy screamed, pushing Hermione away from Pansy.
"What did you do to her?" He demanded, glaring at Hermione with more hate than she had ever thought possible to see in a person.
"She saved my life Draco," Pansy said quietly getting to her feet.
"Why you little Mud-" Draco began furiously. "Wait, saved your life?" he asked, his tone growing gentler.
"I was being attacked by dementors and Hermione chased them away. They were about to give me the kiss. She saved my life" Pansy insisted, her voice growing more confident as she spoke.
"I never thought I'd see the day when little golden girl Granger would save the life of her enemy." Draco remarked.
"This is the fastest way to the Three Broomsticks and I'm late for a meeting there." Hermione replied coldly.
Draco just stared at her. That was not the Gryffindor way of thinking. Slytherins were the ones that would use any means to obtain their ends. "So you really are a Slytherin at heart, aren't you? I have to think about this one," Draco said, slowly more to himself than to anyone else. He offered his arm to Pansy and walked down to the Three Broomsticks. Hermione followed and headed for the table where Harry and Ron sat sullenly.
"You're late, I thought you were reconsidering coming." Ron said, his face lighting up at the site of hers. He passed her a tankard of Butterbeer. Hermione sipped it gratefully, the shock of her experience still gripping her tightly.
"I got sidetracked, I'm sorry to keep you waiting" She said slowly.
"Right, well, what do you want to do?"
"I really want to go back to the castle; I have a lot to think about." Hermione said, sipping her butterbeer thoughtfully.
"It has nothing to do with us, right?"
"No, don't worry." Hermione drained the butterbeer and stood up.
"We'll walk back with you," Ron offered. Hermione looked into his eyes. She had wanted to go back alone, but not wanting to upset him again agreed.
"I need to speak with Hermione," came the unfriendly drawl that everyone knew to belong to Draco Malfoy. Ron and Harry jumped to their feet, identical venomous expressions on their faces.
"What do you want with her?" Harry asked threateningly.
"And it better be good, ferret boy!" Ron added.
"Relax, I just need to talk to her, you're acting like the world is ending. Though you would both benefit from that, Potty could act like a depressed PMSing girl in peace, and Weasel wouldn't have to pay off his enormous debt,"
Ron lunged at Malfoy, who expertly stepped out of his way sending him crashing to the floor. Unfazed by it, Ron stood up and prepared to lunge again.
"Ron! Stop! Draco just needs to talk to me, relax, I'll be fine."
"Draco?" Harry asked picking up on what Hermione had just said, "Since when are you two on first name basis?"
"Since I decided to be," Draco spat, grabbing the sleeve of her robe and dragging her away from the dinner table.
"This is something you will never hear again, so you better listen good."
"Listen well,"
"Whatever"
"I'll grab a quill and take notes on this then,"
"Will you let me get on with this before I decide it's not worth it?"
"I'm not stopping you"
"Thank you for saving my girlfriend's life, even if it was only done for your benefit. I think Blaise and Millicent were right about you." Draco said frigidly.
"You're welcome," Hermione said, matching his calloused tone.
"We will always be on opposite sides of the war, but I will not be the one to kill you, and neither will any of my friends." Draco said, the hints of a true smile breaking his cold mask. Hermione felt her heart soar, she had gained acceptance. "However if word gets out about what I have just said, I will deny everything. We may be friends, but only when it suits me." He added and walked away with a sweep of his cloak.
Blaise and I stepped quietly out from behind the pillar that had concealed us during their meeting. As soon as we saw him lead her out of the hall we followed. I'm curious, that's not a crime. Hermione stood as if rooted to the spot. Blaise and I exchanged wicked grins; I held my finger up to my lips. I clapped the other hand over Hermione's mouth to stifle her inevitable scream. Blaise opened the classroom door and I pushed her into it, my hand still clasped over her mouth. As the door slammed behind us, she bit my hand.
"I heard you, keep quieter next time," She said angrily as I massaged my hand. A smile broke through her irate expression.
"You gained ultimate Slytherin acceptance!" I said excitedly.
"I still don't know who made Draco boss, he's not even a prefect anymore!" Blaise said, angrily.
"You want to be boss then?" I asked.
"You know very well that I don't! It would make blending into the background very difficult." Blaise replied indignantly.
"That's why Draco's boss." I pointed out. Hermione smiled, she was on top of the world, and nothing could bring her down, save for one thing, Harry and Ron, who coincidentally had to burst angrily into the classroom at the exact moment. Curse their bad timing.
"Explain this!" Ron yelled, his wand drawn, poling us in the faces.
"It's nothing Ron," Hermione said, sighing.
"I suppose this is our cue to leave, you know where we'll be." Blaise said, dragging me out of the very crowded room.
"You're fraternizing with the enemy, again! We out of the goodness of our hearts come groveling back to you, even though everything was your fault anyway, to prevent you from associating them and how do you thank us, but hiding in deserted classrooms with them!" Ron yelled.
"Whoa! Ron! Don't even get me started! This was firstly not my fault; secondly, they are not the enemy! You act more like the enemy than they do. It's un-accepting people like you who make them into the enemy! I can't believe you Ronald, why can't you back off and let me be? We have to be civil for the case of unity, but other than that I want nothing to do with you. You ignore me unless we need to work together, do I make myself perfectly clear? We are housemates, nothing more." Hermione said, frostily.
Ron stared at her gaping. "So that's it, after all these years of friendship, this is how it ends?"
"It would appear so," Hermione replied. "This doesn't carry over to you Harry, unless you want it to." Hermione softened her tone a bit as she addressed Harry who was looking quite aghast.
"If this is what makes you happy Hermione, I have no problem, we were unfriendly and even if Ron isn't sorry, I am. Just be careful. They seem like great people. I want to remain friends with both of you though so I won't be able to witness their hospitality and kindness for myself." Harry said monotonously, his normal tone lately.
"Thank you, Harry," Hermione said quietly, shooting him a sympathetic look. She turned on her heel and walked briskly toward the library where she knew Blaise and I would be waiting for her.
"So that's it, the Golden days of the trio are over?" I asked, as she entered the room in stony silence.
"Yes" She said, sinking onto the couch next to Blaise and resting her head in his lap and closing her eyes, the exhaustion from her trying day finally overwhelming her. A surprised expression crossed Blaise's face which quickly turned into a smile. He stroked her bushy hair, which was surprisingly silky to his touch. We sat in a serene silence for quite a while as Hermione drifted off to sleep.
"Ask her to the dance," I said quietly eyeing his compassionate expression.
"She won't go with me," He protested not meeting my eyes.
"But you like her and you care about her, and she should know that from you before I tell her."
"You wouldn't" He protested, but one look in my eyes told him otherwise. I'm quite devious, or so I have been told. Yet another reason I got sorted into the house of the Serpents.
"Besides, in order to promote house unity it is preferable that you go with someone of another house." I pointed out.
"You really think she'll agree to go with me?"
I nodded.
"I'll think about it," he said, resting his eyes on the pale bushy haired girl asleep in his lap. I smiled; they made such a cute couple, if only she would wake up and realize how he felt about her and how she felt about him. Then again, their sarcastic version of flirting was fairly entertaining.
a/n: And the plot thickens again… I hope you like this chapter, I don't think the quality of writing is as good as my other ones, but it needed to be here. As it is this one takes place three months after the previous one. I hope next chapter is more up to my standards. In stories, characters tend to go off and create themselves, but this chapter they just died on me and stopped giving me inspiration. (That sounds weird, but I hope you know what I mean.)
Fantasy Loremaster- Of course chocolate, I love chocolate cake! I already have Blaise worked out exactly as I want him, I won't give him away here though. - You'll find out next chapter.
Chaste-aeon – Thank you endlessly for beta-ing this chapter for me. If I had done it myself, I probably would have deleted the entire thing out of frustration. I'm running out of dessert ideas, so I'm sending you chocolate. I love that stuff, I really do. Anyway, thank you again for beta-ing for me. I'm dying to comment on your review from last chapter, but again, to do so would ruin the story as it's planned now, even though it is subject to change.