The Price of a World
Chapter Fourteen
AN- WARNING!!!! OotP spoiler in this chapter! DON'T READ THIS CHAPTER IF YOU DON'T WANT THE BOOK RUINED! If you haven't read the 5th Harry Potter book... Hurry up and read it so you can read my story dammit xP
"Mr. Potter.
Please report to my office as soon as you receive this letter.
Dumbledore."
Sighing, Harry folded the letter and placed it in his pocket. He turned on his heel and headed off towards Dumbledore's office.
"Sugar dumplings." Harry whispered to the large stone gargoyle. Slowly, the stone figure moved aside to reveal a grand stone staircase. It twisted round and round, going the whole two levels up to Dumbledore's office. Harry jumped onto the winding stairs and waited as it brought him up to the door to Dumbledore's office. He stepped off the staircase and onto the majestic Persian rug in which lay before the tall oak doors to Dumbledore's office. Harry lifted his hand to knock on the door when it swung wide open to reveal Dumbledore sitting at his desk stroking Fawkes.
"Do come in Harry. I've been expecting you..." Slowly Harry stepped into the room and the door shut behind him. Dumbledore motioned to the chair in front of him. Harry crossed the room quickly and sat in the chair opposite Dumbledore. Dumbledore smiled at Harry, and Harry smiled uneasily back. There was a long silence between the two.
"Uhm, Headmaster. You wished to see me for some reason?"
"Yes Harry. I did. Firstly, there will be a Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin in two days time. I've already informed the Slytherin Captain, Draco Malfoy." Harry looked at Dumbledore, expecting the serious side of this meeting. "Harry, I don't know how to say this next part..." Harry was slowly loosing his temper; he still hadn't really forgiven Dumbledore. He blamed Dumbledore for Sirius not being with him anymore.
"Just say it." Harry said through gritted teeth.
"Harry, I'm doubting our chances..."
"Our chances?"
"Yes. Well your chances..."
"My chances... at - " Harry paused. "At defeating Voldemort?"
"Yes Harry. Frankly, I just don't think you are strong enough to defeat him. From what I hear from Moody, your training was lacking over the holidays and your skills seem to be declining instead of inclining." Dumbledore said rather calmly. There was a long pause from Harry.
"Well, I'm obviously not good enough to defeat your dark lord. You'll just have to go find someone else to defeat him to save all of your sorry arses." Harry stood and left Dumbledore sitting in his chair stunned at Harry's reaction.
Harry stormed down the corridor towards the Gryffindor dorms. 'How could he even say that? He has a damned nerve to even...' Harry tossed thoughts around in his head. But he was determined, that he was not going to fight Voldemort to save people like Dumbledore and the Dursley's. By now it was nearly midnight and most of the schools population were asleep preparing for classes the next morning. Harry trudged into the common room and up the staircase into his dorm. He collapsed onto his bed and slept a disturbing sleep filled with nightmares and visions of his past and of his parents.
"My dearest Sweety Pie,
As always, I have been faithful to you and kept strictly to my mission. I have been keeping an eye on Draco and he seems to be keeping to his mission. However, I have a bit of information you might find useful. Potter is dating the mudblood, Granger. She would make a nice target for you. I can tell you anything about her. Her parents are mudblood dentists and the mudblood is good friends with the Weasley family. If we target her, we'll strike them all where it hurts.
My dearest, I miss you everyday and long to be with you again.
Faithfully yours;
Pansy. xox "
Voldemort read the letter slowly, a smirk rising on his face with every word. He tossed the letter into the fire and looked across the table to Lucius Malfoy.
"It looks as if we have our target." Voldemort crowed. Lucius smirked.
"May I enquire?"
"A mudblood. Potter's girlfriend." The two men cackled wickedly as psychotic plans crept into their minds on how to dispose of the mudblood in a way in which would effect Harry, Dumbledore, the Weasley family and the muggles that knew her.
Draco sat on the couch with Hermione's head resting in his lap. She dozed slightly and Draco stroked her hair. The fire burned strong, filling the common room with warmth.
"Hermione..." Draco whispered.
"Mmmm..." Hermione murmured, half asleep.
"I'd better go."
"Mmmm... No, don't go... not yet." She muttered, rousing slightly. Draco bent down and kissed her forehead. He lifted her body with ease and placed her back on the couch. Hermione rubbed her eyes and sat up.
"I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast." Draco winked at her and walked over to the fireplace.
"Where are you going? I thought you were going back to you Head Boy dorms?" Draco laughed, slightly amused.
"That is where I am going. My dorms are in the next corridor along..."
"But..." Hermione looked at Draco, puzzled. Draco shook his head slightly and walked over to the fireplace. He placed his hand on a brick in the wall next to the fireplace. This brick was slightly lighter then the other bricks. Applying a little pressure the brick gave way and sank into the wall a few inches. Hermione watched, wide eyed with curiosity and exhaustion. Once the brink sank into the wall a few inches a large slab of the wall, large enough for a person to fit through; slid open.
"Draco. Where does that – How did you know?" Draco smirked at her.
"Lets just say, I know quite a few secret passages around the castle and this one is one that has been passed down through Slytherin Head Boy or Head Girl history."
"So it leads to your private dorms?"
"Yep." Neat huh? No one will ever see me coming to you or you coming to me." He said with a hint of a crude manner in his voice when mention the last sentence. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"No need to make a simple issue like discovering a secret passage way between our dorms, kinky." Hermione mocked as she stood and kissed Draco on the cheek.
"Good night." Draco said before turning and ducking through the small gap. Before Hermione reply the stone slab slid back into place and you'd never know that there had been an opening there a few minutes before. Slowly, Hermione sauntered up the staircase and into her bedroom. Collapsing onto her bed in exhaustion she fell asleep straight away, still dressed in her school robes.
Once Draco reached his own private dorms, a letter was waiting for him on the small table before the fire. He opened it with deft fingers and read over its contents.
"Mister Malfoy,
A Quidditch game between the Slytherin Team and Gryffindor will commence in two days time. Good luck, train hard and may the best team win.
Headmaster,
Dumbledore. "
Draco tossed the letter into the fire. 'Damn.' He muttered under his breath before retiring to his chamber.
The next day flew by with everyone starting classes for the new semester and the Gryffindor and Slytherin team fighting for the Quidditch pitch to jam in a bit of extra training before the match the next morning. Every student was on edge, whether it be the stress of starting back at school and being crammed with homework or the friction between the Slytherin house and the Gryffindor house. Hermione found it hard to get a few seconds alone with Draco. He was so busy with training his Quidditch team and Hermione was busy with having double the amount of classes any other student had. Hermione couldn't even find time to see Harry or Ron. They were both training vigorously as was Ginny. It wasn't until dinnertime that Hermione could finally sit down with Harry and Ron. It was the first time she'd seen them since the night before. Besides in class but Hermione was concentrating too hard and Ron and Harry were busy writing down Quidditch strategies.
Harry and Ron looked utterly worn out. Their faces were grubby with sweat and mud and their Quidditch robes didn't look much better. Draco and his team however, were nowhere to be seen.
"Where are the Slytherin team?" Hermione enquired as naturally as possible.
"They're making as much use of the pitch as possible, whilst we aren't there." Replied Ron with a mouth full of Shepard's pie.
Harry hadn't spoken to anyone about his conversation with Dumbledore the night before, nor was he intending to. He only wanted to concentrate on winning this Quidditch match, although he found it hard to keep his mind on the match whilst thoughts of his parents flashed through his mind.
Ron and Harry went to bed early along with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Hermione waited in the Great Hall until everyone was gone and the plates were cleared away. There was still no sign of the Slytherin team. It was nearly 10pm before Hermione packed away her homework and went back to her dorms. She entered her common room to find the couch and table covered in red rose petals. On the table there was a letter sitting next to a red rose and a neatly folded Slytherin scarf.
"Hermione,
So sorry I couldn't spend any time with you today. I admired you in class and found great amusement in your concentrating facial expressions." Hermione blushed as she read, she could see herself working intently and having Draco watch her every movement. "I thought about you every minute I wasn't with you. The scarf is for you, to remind you of me... And so you don't forget who the best house is." Hermione laughed slightly. 'Slytherin the best house? I think not...' She said to herself before reading on. "I'll look for you in the stands tomorrow... You'll be the only green robed person in the sea of red right? With all my heart, Draco."
Hermione giggled and smiled inwardly. 'Tomorrow shall be very interesting indeed.' She said as she took the green scarf in her hands, clutched it to her chest and closed the door behind her as she entered her bedroom.
It was the morning of the match. It wasn't even dawn and Hermione was awake sitting on her bed. She crossed her legs and stared out the window. The sky was grey and cloudy, yet the sun persisted on pushing through the small gaps between clouds. She was biting her nails; she only bit them when she was nervous. She forced herself to stop and concentrated on the dusty floorboards. She had been dreading this day. The day the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams played on the pitch together. Both teams fighting to win, rivalry was written in the expressions on their faces. She sighed and tried not to think about it.
Right at that moment Harry burst through her dorm door. He was already dressed in his Quidditch robes. He stood in the doorway smiling at her. Hermione loved Harry's smile, it was so cute, yet it had a cheeky look about it. Hermione just had to smile back he was irresistible. Harry closed the door and came over to her. He scooped her up in his arms and spun her around on the spot. Hermione laughed. He bent his head down and kissed her.
"Morning," He said as he put her back on the bed.
"Morning." Hermione replied.
"Come on, get dressed." Harry said getting her cloak and Gryffindor scarf out of her wardrobe.
"Harry, it isn't even light yet."
"Well your awake aren't you. So why not get dressed..." He grinned at her again. Harry was always like this on the morning of a Quidditch match. Quidditch was one of the most important things to Harry; it was his passion. And he was good at it. As usual, Hermione crumbled under Harry's grin and his happy mood. She got off the bed, collected her clothes from her drawers, making sure to push the Slytherin scarf to the back of the draw so Harry couldn't see it and went into the bathroom to get dressed.
Hermione had her usual school uniform on. She dabbed abit of perfume onto her wrists, temple and neck. Ran abit of passion fruit lip-gloss across her lips to give a wet shine effect. Her hair was being annoying this morning. She gathered it all up and put it loosely in a clasp making sure a few ringlets where hanging down, to top it all off she slipped a frangipani flower into the top of her bun. She was about to go back into her room where Harry was waiting for her when she noticed her mascara sitting on the bench. She must have forgotten to repack it before the holidays. She picked it up and brushed it lightly against her upper lashes. Hermione admired it in the mirror; she liked how it made her chocolate brown eyes stand out. She glided out of the bathroom dressed and ready, closing the door behind her. Harry was sitting on the bed waiting for her.
"Ok, I'm ready." Hermione went over and sat at the window seat.
"Your beautiful," Harry said. Hermione blushed. It sounded different coming from Harry and not Draco. She wanted to tell Harry, she wanted so badly to tell him. Tell him everything about her and Draco. She didn't like living this lie. She hated keeping things from him, but this was worse. She loved Draco and it was tearing her up inside having to pretend to Harry that she loved him.
Pretend... no not pretend. She loved Harry, but in a completely different way that she loved Draco. She loved Harry as a friend; they knew everything about each other. But her love for Draco... was much, much different. She missed him every second she wasn't with him. A flood of happiness, love, friendship, compassion, besieged her when she saw him. And when she watched him leave emotions of the complete opposite overwhelmed her. She was happy when he was, she was sad when he was. She was brave when he was. She couldn't help being anxious when he was flying in a Quidditch match or in a fight with Harry and Ron. She didn't want to see him hurt. She hated seeing his face when he was sad. But joy and happiness spread throughout her body when he was happy. She loved every inch of him and it excited her to learn more about him everyday.
"Hermione? Are you ok?" It was Harry; she must have gone off into a trance. "Off with the fairies?" Harry laughed, but she just smiled.
"Sorry, I'm just tired."
"Well let's go downstairs and have something to eat." Hermione and Harry walked down to the Great Hall together. They saw Ron immediately. He was dressed in his Quidditch robes, which were back to front, and his hair scruffy and obviously not brushed. He was sitting at the table by himself, eating his cereal with a knife. Except in his bowl was orange juice and in his glass was cereal. He was sitting staring at nothing. Hermione fought to hold back giggles.
"Poor Ron, he must be so nervous." They sat opposite him.
"Hey mate, how are you?" Harry asked.
"Every match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, Slytherins mock me. Singing a stupid song with Malfoy leading them. Making me feel stupid. I get so nervous I practically let the Slytherins win the match. How do you think I feel?" Ron said still staring at nothing in particular.
Ginny, dressed in her Quidditch robes entered the hall with her usual fan club of boys following her. Today the fan club consisted of Neville, Dean, Colin, Seamus, Brendon a 6th year from Ravenclaw and Dennis and Jeremy – twins- 3rd years from Hufflepuff.
Hermione poured herself some cereal as the hall doors slammed open and the whole Slytherin Quidditch team entered the hall. Walking in a V shape, they looked quite smart and they sure did make an effect on the people sitting in the hall. In the corner of her eye she could've sworn she saw Lavender faint. Hermione saw Draco briefly; he had his usual smirk smeared across his face as he strutted over to the Slytherin table for breakfast. She smiled to herself at how sexy he looked in his Quidditch robes and clutched at her bag in which contained her Slytherin scarf.
"Don't worry Ron, you're a good Quidditch player. Don't put yourself down all the time." It was Ginny. At some moment when Hermione was dreaming about Draco she had come in and sat next to Ron.
"Oi Gin, Ron. We have to get down to the pitch now." Harry leaned over to kiss Hermione; she subconsciously leaned into the kiss. It was long and passionate. She could feel how badly Harry loved her in his kisses.
"Good Luck." Hermione said and Harry kissed her again. He then got up from the table and left the hall with Ron and Ginny in tow. She now sat alone at the Gryffindor table with Neville, Dean, Colin and Seamus. Hermione glanced over to the Slytherin table. Draco was looking at her. She looked away quickly. 'God I hope he didn't see Harry kissing me like that. I don't want a repeat of the other night...' Hermione thought to herself. She had to look at him again just to make sure, she glanced back over to the table but he had gone, she just caught a glimpse of him leaving the hall.
"Hermione, could you pass the juice please." Neville asked. Hermione gave him the juice jug. They ate their breakfast in silence as the rest of the school bustled into the hall in an excited frenzy. It was a big issue at Hogwarts when Slytherin and Gryffindor versed each other. Hermione heard a screech and looked up towards the windows. The post had arrived. She never received letters from anyone and she was very surprised when an owl landed in front of her and held out its leg. She took the letter off its leg and it flew away.
Hermione opened it. It looked like it had been written in a rush. The handwriting was instantly recognizable. She read it;
"Meet me on the south end of the pitch, behind the stands. No one goes that far round."
She scrunched up the parchment and put it in her pocket.
"Sorry guys, I have to go get something. Save me a seat will you?" Neville and Dean nodded, their mouths full. Hermione got up and left the hall. She broke into a run down to the pitch. It was quite cold outside, even though it was the middle of spring. Most of the snow had melted but the grass and trees were covered in a misty frost.
When she reached the south end of the stadium. There was no one there. Just a stretch of grass leading to the forbidden forest. She could hear people filing into the stands way above her. She walked a little further along the side of the stadium. The crack of a twig came from behind her. She turned around only to see a dark shadow leaning against the wall. Partly hidden in the shadows. She smiled. Draco stepped forward out of the shadows, walked over and stood in front of her. Hermione stood looking up into his grey eyes. He smiled and slid his arms around her waist. Hermione did the same but slid her arms inside his large warm coat. Draco took each side of his coat and wrapped it around her. Hermione rested her head on his chest while Draco kissed the top of her head gently.
"I missed you yesterday..." Draco whispered.
"I missed you too. I got the scarf." Hermione replied, smiling into his chest.
"Oh really? I always thought green suited you better then red." Hermione laughed and hugged Draco tighter. They stood like this in silence for a while until Draco spoke again.
"I have to get back to the change rooms."
"Just a few more minutes." Draco took Hermione face into his hands. He leant down and kissed her. He loved the taste of her lip-gloss and he increased the intensity of the kiss. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck while Draco pulled her closer to him.
"I love your smell and your taste..." Draco whispered as he continued to kiss her hungrily. Regretfully Hermione pulled away.
"You should get going...The match is starting soon." She smiled and rested her head on his chest again.
"Hmm... I guess I'd better." He kissed her head and turned east which headed to the Slytherin dressing rooms.
"Good Luck Draco." Hermione said as he started to walk away. He stopped and came back to her. He picked her up in his arms and kissed her again. Hermione smiled.
"What brought that on?" Hermione asked.
"Do I need a reason to kiss my girlfriend?" Hermione laughed.
"Your girlfriend?" Hermione smiled and kissed him fervently. "I love you." Hermione whispered.
"I love you too." Draco replied as he put her back on the ground. The roar of the school up in the stands was almost deafening. Draco looked towards the Slytherin change rooms on the eastern side. Hermione sighed.
"Okay, go on. Get going." Hermione said, she stood there watching him as he ran back to the change rooms. She realized the match was to start soon and she pelted back to the Gryffindor stands. She found Neville and Dean easily; they were seated in the very top row of the stands. Right near the back as usual. She pushed through the crowd of Slytherins and sat in the seat they had saved for her.
The match had started. Green and red figures whizzing around the stadium. The quaffle flying from player to player and the bludgers hurtling in all directions. Gryffindor scored and the roar from the crowd was deafening. Slytherin scored again, and again. The Slytherins cheers only just managing to drown out the boo's of the rest of the school.
"Ron! He's goofing up. Oh MAN! Did you see that! He could've saved that if he'd stopped mucking around and sliding off his broom!" Neville said, hitting his head. To the left of her, Lavender jumped up on her seat and yelled with her screechy voice.
"RON YOU IDIOT! WATCH THE QUAFFLE! DON'T LET IT IN THE HOOPS!" Hermione watched Draco circle the stadium high above the other players through her binoculars. Harry was also circling the stadium.
Whilst circling the stadium, Draco and Harry met half way.
"Hey Scar head, your lousy keeper is practically letting us win!" Draco laughed as he sat back on his broom. Harry deliberately ran his broom into Draco as he passed him. Luckily Draco had good reflexes and grabbed onto his broom to stop himself from falling. Draco sneered at Harry but he just flew off down the other end of the pitch. Whereas Draco went in the opposite direction, towards where Hermione was sitting. He slowed down when he came to her, he saw Hermione looking up at him intently. He winked at her and sped off around the pitch again. Hermione smiled to herself.
"Slytherin scores again..." Came Colin Creavy's voice over the loud speaker, he didn't sound very impressed at all. "Slytherin leading the way on 130 - 20..." He said again sounding very tedious. Hermione could see Draco punching the air in triumph as his team scored again. She was appalled at herself when she realized that she too was over-joyed at Slytherin's score.
Draco scanned the pitch with his eyes, searching for the snitch. When at last he saw it. He couldn't believe his luck; he glanced over to Harry. He hadn't noticed. Draco kept his eyes on the tiny, golden flicker hovering a few feet above the Slytherin goal posts.
Harry wasn't even looking for the snitch, his eyes scanned the pitch but he wasn't paying attention. He was thinking of Hermione, he was thinking of his parents, of Sirius, of Dumbledore's conversation and of Voldemort's death eaters. Suddenly, movement from the corner of his eye drew him from his thoughts. It was Draco. He was making a dive.
It all happened so fast. Draco went into a nosedive for the snitch, Harry noticed Draco and went after him. They were speeding towards the snitch. Neither Harry nor Draco slowed down. They kept at it. They were on the snitch's' tail.
Draco was determined to get the snitch, to win against Harry. To show Hermione that he was better. Draco reached his arm out in front of him.
Harry was determined to get the snitch. If Gryffindor lost, it would be his entire fault. He wasn't concentrating. How could he concentrate? He just couldn't let Slytherin win. 'Slytherin can't win this match.' Harry muttered. 'Voldemort can't win this battle.' Harry's hand slipped and he swerved to his right, closer to Draco.
Harry rammed into Draco.
Draco shoved him back.
It was as if they were in some sort of time warp. It seemed like minutes had passed and he hadn't gotten any closer to the snitch.
Inch by inch; Harry and Draco's outstretched hands got closer to the wavering ball of gold.
Harry rammed Draco again.
Draco swerved slightly.
Regaining momentum, Draco collided with Harry once more.
Inch by inch. The snitch grew closer to Draco's fingertips.
Inch by inch. The snitch grew closer to Harry's fingertips.
The snitch was fluttering rapidly inside Draco's sweaty hand.
He had caught the snitch.
He had won.
Slytherin had won.
Harry had lost the snitch.
Gryffindor had lost.
Harry Potter the-boy-who-lived; was no more.
The Slytherin's roared with an exultant cheer. They had beaten Gryffindor and the-boy-who-lived. The rest of the school was quiet. The Gryffindor team landed and exited the stadium in a defeated silence. The Slytherin team all landed, they all rushed over to Draco and showered him in praise, cheers and pats on the back. Hermione even found herself nearly leaping from her seat and joining the Slytherins in praising Draco when she remembered her place as a Gryffindor. The Slytherins jumped the barrier and flooded the pitch, congratulating their Quidditch Team.
Slowly, the rest of the school exited the stadium and went glumly to lunch before their afternoon classes started. Hermione knew she didn't have a chance of getting near Draco so she went back to her dorm to collect her books before classes. She turned her back on the Quidditch Stadium and meandered up to the castle without a thought about Harry, Ron, Ginny, her Quidditch Team or her house. Hermione was too happy that Draco had won to be upset for Harry.
AN – Okay, that chapter was supposed to be up the other day but I thought I'd put the Quidditch match and Dumbledore's meeting with Harry in the same chapter. Sorry about the Quidditch match to all you Quidditch buffs out there. I suck at writing Quidditch matches. However, I'll just quickly explain the bit at the end of the Quidditch match. Incase it doesn't make sense or you want to know why I did it. I guess it is sort of symbolic of what is to come in my story. It is sort of like; Draco stands for Voldemort and the Dark Side and Harry stands for well, himself. Since he has abandoned Dumbledore and 'The Order" because they abandoned him by not believing in him to win the battle for them. I'll give you two little examples of the ending of the Quidditch match being symbolic.
"Harry had lost the snitch." Well the snitch is a small, delicate creature. I call it a creature because I believe the snitch to sort of be alive, like it has a spirit. Just think about a snitch and what it looks like. I've gotten the impression that the snitch is something very pure and beautiful. This line, symbolises something that Harry will lose, or already has lost. –hint hint-
"He had won." Okay this one is a little tough. Draco had won, meaning to him; it was like he had won Hermione. That whole match wasn't about defeating Gryffindor; it was competing against Harry for Hermione. But don't get me wrong, Draco loves Hermione and everything and he doesn't see the whole thing as winning Hermione. It was also like Draco has proven to himself more than proven to Harry that he was worthy of Hermione and that he deserved her better then anyone else and that she deserved him instead of Harry. It's hard to explain xP
Hope you liked this chapter. And I can't wait to finish the next chapter. Voldemort actually makes a bigger appearance in the next chappy!! Yaay? xP