Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize in the Harry Potter books.
Chapter VII: Truth and ConsequenceHarry finally decided to forget about sleep. After reading the letter last night, he didn't know why he was even trying knowing that Hermione might be in danger. "Hermione," he sighed quietly.
"So you're still awake too Harry?" he heard a voice say from the darkness. It was Ron. Harry wasn't really surprised. He knew what Ron was feeling. Hermione was their best friend, after all.
"Yeah. There's no use in trying to sleep anyway. It's almost daybreak."
"What would we tell Dumbledore?" Ron asked, trying to take his mind off Hermione even just for a while.
"I don't know. But let's tell him after breakfast."
"I hope he knows what to do," Ron whispered.
"Don't worry, Ron," Harry said reassuringly. "Dumbledore'll know what to do. If anyone can help us, he can"
"Yeah, you're right. He'll know what to do… he'll help us," Ron said through a yawn, sleep evidently wanting to catch-up with him. Harry could feel his eyes starting to feel heavy too.
"He'll know what to do," he muttered before closing his eyes, only to be awoken by Dean half-an-hour later.
"Hey, Harry. We're supposed to talk to Dumbledore about Hermione today."
Harry opened his eyes groggily. "Wha… I'll be down in a minute. You go on to breakfast without me."
"Sure. Hurry up."
Harry could hear Seamus waking up Ron in much the same way, though he was having a harder time. "Ron, get up. It's time for breakfast. We're supposed to talk to Dumbledore…"
"Yeah, ten more minutes, Seamus."
"…about Hermione, Ron." Again, that woke up Ron in a flash. In minutes, they were in the great hall. The magnificent decorations didn't seem as lively as it usually did. The fake snow falling from the enchanted ceiling seemed to intensify their sense of dread for their friend.
The four boys conveyed the happenings of the night to Ginny, Lavender and Parvati. Ginny was very worried about this but Hermione's two roommates assured her that Malfoy would take care of her.
"What do you mean?" an annoyed Ron asked them.
"Well, although you don't want to admit it, Ron," said Parvati, "Malfoy's really a decent gentleman. Even though most of the time he's an obnoxious egotistical git, he wouldn't really leave a damsel-in-distress alone, even though she is a muggle-born."
"Yeah," Lavender said dreamily. "I remember the time he carried me to the Hospital Wing when I twisted my ankle once… though he was really very rude afterwards calling me names and stuff," she added irritably.
The seven of them waited impatiently for breakfast to end. Finally, Dumbledore stood up and started to leave the High Table. Harry and Ron stood and when they realized none of the others were following them, they looked at the five expectantly.
"We… we think the both of you should go alone," Ginny said. "It'd be too crowded if all of us went."
"Yeah, Dumbledore'd understand better if only the two of you went," Parvati agreed.
"I… guess you're right," Harry agreed reluctantly. "We'll see you in the common room then."
"Yeah."
"Bye Ron, Harry."
"Good luck."
"We expect news, ok?"
They all made their way to their dorms and left Ron and Harry to think of what to say to the headmaster. When they finally decided to follow him they found him waiting outside the door of his office.
"Ah, finally here, I see," he said with a smile.
"What do you mean, professor, you were waiting for us?" Ron asked surprised.
"Well then, I think it's better to talk about it in my office. Candy floss," he told the gargoyle beside him, and it jumped to life then moved aside to make way for the two boys. "In you go then."
It was Ron's first time in there and as he entered the gap the gargoyle revealed, he was amazed at the sight before him. They took the spiral staircase slowly moving upward as the doors closed behind them and through the oak doors of Dumbledore's office. He saw the circular room and the pictures of the former headmasters and headmistresses. Also, there was Fawkes asleep on his golden perch.
"I'd like you to sit down then, children," Dumbledore said kindly. "Sweets?" He offered them the bowl of candy and chocolate on his table. Harry politely refused while Ron took a few, mentally restraining himself from taking the whole lot.
"Now, I have reason to think that you came to talk to me about your friend, Miss Granger?"
"Wicked!" Ron exclaimed. "How did you know why we're here?"
"Two reasons, Mister Weasley. First, I realized you weren't with her since last night and second, I received news from somebody you know and a friend of his."
"Professor," Harry said, "who told you, if I may ask?"
"They're here, actually."
"They are?" the two said in unison. Then they noticed something move on a couch on their left. It was Dobby, standing up and bowing to them.
"Dobby is very happy to sees you, sirs. This is Blinky," he indicated to an elf lying asleep on the couch."
"Is Blinky a new elf here, sir?" Harry asked.
"Actually no. She's from the Malfoy Manor," Dumbledore said evenly while receiving quizzical looks Harry and Ron.
"The Malfoys dismissed another elf, sir? I find that really very hard to believe since I've seen Lucius' anger when I tricked him into dismissing Dobby."
"That's because they didn't dismiss her, Harry. As I've found out, she's been transported here after touching a book, more likely a portkey of some sort."
"Yes, sir," Ron interrupted, "but how did you know it has something to do with Hermione?"
"If you'd allow me to continue, Mister Weasley, I was just getting to that. You see, Blinky here saw a girl hiding in her master's utility cabinet before she touched the book. And seeing you without Miss Granger for quite some time now has led me to believe that something must be amiss. Well, will you affirm my theories, gentlemen?"
"Yes sir, Hermione has gone missing and she sent us this last night," Harry said giving Dumbledore Hermione's letter. "But we didn't know what to do so we wanted to ask you for advice, sir."
Dumbledore scanned the contents of the piece of paper. "She says right here that she's quite alright. And it seems like Mister Malfoy is helping her out. Well, I really don't see any problem as of yet."
"But Hermione might be in trouble," Ron argued. "Aren't we gonna do anything?"
"For now all we can do is believe that Mister Malfoy can bring Miss Granger back safely."
"But it's Malfoy," Ron insisted. "Don't tell me you trust him. The words Malfoy and trust don't go together."
"Mister Weasley," Dumbledore said benignly, "I trust each every individual in this school and as far as I know Mister Malfoy is still a student of Hogwarts. Sometimes the only thing you can do is have faith, even in the most unanticipated places, at the most sudden times, or on the most unexpected people. Now let's agree to give them three more days to get to know each other better. Then we'll decide what to do next. We'd never know if Mister Malfoy could pull off a miracle. Now stop wasting Hogsmeade time. We have two more days before Christmas and you could have some last-minute shopping. You should try to enjoy yourselves."
"Thank you, professor," a downfallen Harry and Ron said simultaneously.
"Just set aside your presents for Miss Granger for awhile. You could give them when she returns."
So they went back to the common room and told the waiting Gryffindors the headmaster's opinion and spent the rest of the day at Hogsmeade, unknown to them Hermione's encounter of a mysterious room.
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Hermione woke up the next morning gasping, her heart beating very fast. She carefully sat up. Dreams had come to her one after another that she didn't know what was real anymore. But trying to remember those dreams was like trying to contain water in your hands—they slowly slipped no matter how hard you try to hold them
"Finally awake, eh, mudblood?" a drawl came from beside her. Draco was resting his head on his pillow although he was fully awake.
"I… what happened?"
Draco sighed. "You disobeyed my orders, Granger, that's what," Draco answered standing up. "Did you know that my father almost killed me when I entered late in that meeting?"
The events of the former night slowly started to come back to her. "But…," Hermione said trying to cut in. She didn't know what to say. She could feel the tears starting to well-up in her eyes. 'It isn't fair,' she thought. 'Is this what I get for caring? I went out of the room because of him.'
"How could you call yourself smart?" he continued. "I told you to stay put. Can't you understand straight English? Even Pansy could follow instructions better than you."
"Then stay with your Pansy," Hermione yelled, her tears were flowing freely now. She ran to the bathroom, the only place she could think of where she could hide from him, and locked the door behind her. She couldn't stop her tears from flowing. She heard Draco banging from the outside.
"Hermione, open the door," he shouted. She didn't answer. After some time he stopped. "You could have died, you know? I was so… worried about you," she heard him whisper reluctantly from behind the door. After a few seconds, she heard the bedroom door silently close. She turned the knob, and peeked outside. Draco was gone.
a/n: I really need names of house-elves. Please recommend some so I can get on with the next chapter. Please, I beg you! I even put this one in between, just to buy some time for the next chapter. So you'll notice that I didn't spend as much time on it as I should have. Just tell me if anything's wrong. I promise the next chapter will not be a boring one. Well, I'm expecting you guys to review.