Chapter 17
Transfiguration ended only seconds after Catherine left. Hermione lagged behind after the class ended, whispering to her friends to wait for her outside.
"Professor?" She asked quietly. McGonagall looked up, the shuffling paper stopped.
"Yes?"
"I...uh . . . I was wondering if anyone from The Order was keeping an eye on Catherine."
"Miss Granger, The Order is something that you cannot know about. In regards of Catherine, she is on our side."
"Then why has she been continuously sneaking off, I saw her going into the forest this morning."
"As to my knowledge, she is not sneaking around, she is part of The Order, as you know. Catherine has either been leaving class due to illness or work for The Order." Minerva closed the textbook on her desk. "That is all I will be telling you, now, go along to lunch."
The seventeen-year-old huffed, walking quickly out of the classroom, nearly slamming the door behind her.
"Well?" Ron asked, turning toward her, "Did she tell you anything?"
"No." Hermione shook her head, "All she said was that Catherine was part of The Order, and not supporting the dark side."
"See!" Ron stressed, "She's with us, not against us. Why won't you believe me?"
"There's still something weird going on with her."
"Possibly." Harry replied, and the three of them turned to head to the Great Hall.
Catherine brushed the extracts of ash off her robes, then left McGonagall's office. On her way to lunch, she ended up running into Malfoy . . . again.
"Hello you." He greeted slyly, wrapping his cold hand around her waist.
"Hello." She replied, putting on an act once again. Draco pulled her closer, forcing his mouth upon her own. Cate responded by slipping her tongue into his mouth. If you had to play the game, you had to play the game hardcore. The forced embrace continued for longer than expected, Catherine found herself pressed up against the cold wall, Draco's hand sliding slowly up the front of her robes. Luckily, a sudden voice caused them to pull slightly apart.
"Mr Malfoy," Snape's voice spat, Draco remained close to Cate, pinning her to the wall, "I advise you to keep those kind of going-ons to your common room," He paused and grimaced for a moment, "and if need be, your dormitory." Draco smirked.
"Of course Professor. I'm sorry for this."
"It's all right for this time only Mr Malfoy." Snape looked Catherine directly in the eye, giving her a hard glare, then turned to the dungeons. As soon as he was out of sight, Draco leaned into Cate, kissing her softly.
"Come," He gestured, offering her his hand, "Eat lunch with us." Cate nodded in agreement. When she didn't take his hand, Malfoy grabbed her own, leading her into the Great Hall.
As Catherine glanced over at the Gryffindor table, she saw Harry, Ron and her other friends looking at her with shock, while Hermione nearly looked completely satisfied. Draco lead her to the Slytherin table, sitting her directly beside him, their backs to the others.
"Darling . . . " He drawled, having fun with this situation, "Have some of this." He passed her a dish. The younger woman scooped a small amount into her bowl, eating in silence. "Catherine?" Draco asked softly.
"Yes?" She looked up, and saw past his cold eyes, it seemed that there was some emotion there.
"Is everything all right?"
"Yeah." She nodded, placing another spoonful of soup into her mouth.
"So . . . does the Dark Lord have any specific plans for you yet?" Cate looked up again, pushing her lunch away from her.
"Not that I've heard of. Why?"
"I was just wondering." Draco smirked, "He's been setting certain things for others to do."
"Any idea what I would be doing?"
"Most likely spy work, as you're in close contact with Potter and his lot, and you could easily manipulate anyone." Catherine raised an eyebrow.
"Manipulate?" She questioned, "We both know that you didn't want to use that word."
"All right." Draco sighed, "More like, seduce."
"That's what I thought." The eighteen-year-old sighed lightly, laying her hands down on the table. Malfoy placed his over hers, entwining their fingers, against her will.
At the Gryffindor table, Ginny looked over her shoulder at Catherine and Draco Seeing their hands interlocked on the table top shocked her, as nearly three months ago, she had caught Cate and Charlie sleeping in the same bed, they seemed to be pretty serious.
"I'll be back in a sec." Ginny said to her table companions. She then stood up, hurrying over to the Slytherin table. "Cate?" She asked.
"Yes?"
"Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Of course!" Catherine went to stand up, forgetting that her hand was interlocked with Malfoy's. As she stood up, Draco jerked her back, forcing her into a kiss. Cate pulled away harshly, Draco looked up at her, his eyes back to stone. Ginny pulled the young woman to the corner of the hall.
"What's going on?" She demanded.
"With what?" Cate asked.
"Malfoy!" Ginny shrieked in a whisper, "I thought you and Charlie were going serious."
"We are."
"Then what's up with Malfoy?"'
"To make a long story short, it was either that of death."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"Does Charlie know about this?"
"Yeah. I went back to The Order this morning. He was there."'
"Is he okay with that?"
"He's fine with it." She said to Ginny, then walked over to Draco, putting on her act once again. "I'm going off to class now." She leaned down as he pulled her into a kiss, "I'll see you later."'
"Good-bye." Draco smirked, watching Catherine leave the Great Hall.
