Seeds of Seduction
Chapter 24: Betrayal
Hermione groaned and turned around in her bed. The moon was shining brightly in the black sky. Hermione looked over at her side table and read the iridescent light. It was eleven o'clock. Hermione turned away from the window and shut her eyes. Opening them a few minutes later, she looked at the clock. It read 11:07. Cursing, she threw off her curtains and padded across the floor. Grabbing her thick black dressing gown, she put it on top of her knee length, spaghetti strap black nightie. She slipped her feet into a pair of black slippers, picked up her wand, and quietly opened the door. Listening carefully, she put her ear to Ron's bedroom where she could hear deep rumbling and then Harry and Ginny's room where all was quiet. Hermione tiptoed across the dark landing and down the stairs until she reached the ground floor.
Running a hand through her hair, she walked over to the kitchen careful not to wake anyone up. She would have a cup of hot chocolate and then go back to bed. She needed to sort out her thoughts from the afternoon and evening. She couldn't sleep while they roamed around her mind, constantly reminding her. Silently, she took out a cup and directed her wand. Within seconds, the cup was brimming with rich dark hot chocolate. Shoving her wand into her pocket she sipped the drink and walked towards the front door. She always thought better when she was outside.
Stifling a yawn, she turned a corner and stopped. Harry and Ginny were against the wall and from she stood things were getting pretty hot. Ginny's arms were around Harry's neck and Harry was kissing her neck. Harry was pressing Ginny to the wall with his body and his arms were around her waist, which were holding her close to him. For a moment, she stood glued to the spot with a sad smile on her face. As she stared at them, she saw herself and Draco mirrored. Quickly before she was spotted or lost her appetite, she turned around and silently padded towards another entrance to the front yard.
She stepped out to the yard and smiled. Taking a walk outside always helped clear her mind. She walked towards the thin thicket of trees where she was swallowed within the leaves and branches. The only noises were the snapping of the twigs as she stepped on them and the occasional chirping of birds. Holding her hot chocolate carefully, she walked up a boulder and sat at the top.
Her mind drifted back to the words Severus had whispered to her in her room only a few hours ago. "You can't forget about him, Hermione, because you love him." Was that true?
"But that's preposterous," thought Hermione aloud, "I can't love him. I've loved Ron since the beginning of 6th year."
"But then the signs that I loved him vanished," murmured Hermione. "I don't feel flustered or nervous around Ron anymore. But just because I don't love Ron anymore doesn't mean that I have to love Draco."
She wished she had Draco to hear her. She had never felt as alone as she did now. Of course, she had Viktor but it would be days before she would hear from him again. She needed to talk to talk to Draco. Oh, how she misses him. Her lip trembling, she set her cup down and hugged herself pretending that she was Draco. She missed his warm arms around her. After next week, she would have to pretend that there was nothing between them. He would move on and settle down with another woman. The thought of that made her sit up angrily. He would act like there had been nothing between them. Tears brimmed. Her heart was crushed as the realization dawned on her. He would belong to a woman, which wouldn't be Hermione. She felt dead inside.
Then she sat up straight as the words from Viktor's letters flashed through her mind.
" Do you want to know what the real sign of love is? The real sign of love is when you are separated from them and it's unbearable. Your heart aches because you can't hold them in your arms, your body feels heavy because you know they've moved on, your heart's crushed because you simply miss them."
Her eyes wide and her heart beating fast, she shook her head. Her hand knocked over her cup of hot chocolate sending streams of the liquid down the rock. If Viktor was right, that meant that she loved Draco Malfoy.
Hermione clambered down the rock walking towards the stream. Everything was falling into place. How could she have been so blind? It all made sense. Her dwindling love for Ron until everything vanished altogether should have been an immediate clue. She hadn't cared when Lavender and Ron had gone out after Christmas. She hadn't cared when he asked her out. He hadn't cared when he became single. What had she been doing all evening? She had been crying her heart out because she wasn't going to see Draco Malfoy again. And he would belong to another woman. Covered her hand with her mouth as tears flowed down her cheeks, she broke into a run until she reached the stream. Throwing herself next to the water, she beat the ground with her fists.
How could it have lead to this? How could she have fallen into the trap of his fake sweet words and actions? He didn't love her and he never would. How could she have been that pathetic to fall into his trap? She had known from the very beginning that Draco was going to fake everything. How could she have believed every word that left his mouth and lost her heart?
Standing shakily, Hermione walked slowly back towards the house. She knew she was in for it this time. Falling in love with an enemy that too a Malfoy would bring serious ramifications. She needed to forget about him. "It would be easy, Hermione thought, he doesn't love me back. I have Ron now that he's finally showed some interest in me." But deep down in her heart, she knew she was lying. Shaking her head, she forced it out of her mind determined to forget about Draco Malfoy.
. & .
The rest of the night had not passed very pleasantly for Hermione. Whenever she did fall into a restless slumber, thoughts of Draco would plague her. Finally, giving up the idea of a dreamless sleep, she climbed out of bed and walked down to the stairs. She pushed open the door and meandered over to Ginny, Ron, and Harry.
"Hey," said Hermione sleepily as she plopped next to Ron.
"Oh dear," said Harry looking at Hermione with shock, "What happened?"
"Are you ok?" asked Ron with concern placing his hand on her bare thigh.
Hermione raised her eyebrow and nodded though she was fine feeling very uncomfortable of his hand on her bare skin.
"Oh hello Hermione," chirped Mrs. Weasley setting a plate of food in front of Hermione.
Hermione blanched when she saw the food on the plate. They were the pancakes she had taught Draco to make. She shook her head. She felt like throwing up. Ron looked at her strangely when she stood up and backed away. Turning around, she ran out the kitchen.
"What happened there?" asked Harry his face etched with confusion, "They're only pancakes."
"Yeah," said Ron slowly taking a bite, "They taste fine too."
"I'll talk to her," said Ginny who had seen a tear drip down Hermione's face, "Hermione needs some time by herself right now."
Hermione burst through her room and ran over to her unpacked duffel bag. Tearing it open, she yanked out Draco's undershirt and sweatpants. Clutching them in her hands, she held them to her face and inhaled. Immediately, Draco was surrounding her. Sobbing, Hermione slid to the ground and wept.
"Why do I love you so much? You're always on my mind. You're always in my heart. You plague me day and night. You're everywhere I go. My heart aches when I'm not near you. I feel you around me. My heart feels crushed and suffocated. I need you Draco," sobbed Hermione.
Next to the door, a figure watched Hermione cradle Draco's clothes and weep. He had seen everything.
. & .
The next week passed slowly for Hermione. She was dreading the next meeting at the Ministry. She didn't want to see the look on Draco's face when he learned that she had been using him. Of course, he had been using her as well. She hoped that he hadn't fallen in love with her just as she had fallen in love with him. Knowing that he didn't love her would make it loads easier for her to forget him. Around her, Harry, Ginny, Draco, and Severus were making plans for the oncoming final meeting.
"Ron," whispered Harry coming out of his room, "Come here."
Bewildered Ron followed Harry into the darkened room. Ginny and Severus were sitting around a circular table in the middle of the room. Ron seated himself next to his sister.
"Uh Harry," he said, "I think you forgot to ask Hermione."
"No he didn't," said Severus, "I specifically made sure that she wasn't going to attend this meeting. Don't worry about them," he added when he saw Ron open his mouth.
Reluctantly, Ron shut his mouth as Harry seated himself.
"Ok," he started, "As you all know, this mission will officially be over on January 22nd. We need to decide how we're going to break this to Malfoy."
"He doesn't suspect that we've used him but he has used us. We need to break the news to him before he can rub it in our faces. We need to let him know that whatever he's done hasn't helped HIS side," added Ginny.
"And then after that," said Harry, "We kill him."
"What?" said Ginny, Ron, and Severus together.
"Come on guys," said Harry frustratingly standing up, "This is Malfoy we're talking about. Either he kills us or we kill him. We're going to meet him in the Final Battle in a few months. If we kill him now, then it will benefit us. He's going to be killed either way; I'm going to make sure of that. He's extremely powerful."
"Well," drawled out Ron, "I guess."
"I'll kill him," volunteered Harry. "It's my responsibility."
Severus was sitting quietly at the table. He didn't want to see Draco die. Sighing, he nodded his head; it was the only way he could see the Dark Lord defeated.
. & .
Hermione adjusted her dark brown velvet coat over her cream-colored pants and brown boots. She was meeting Draco at the Ministry. Outside, Harry, Ron, Severus, and Ginny were waiting. Bracing herself, she grabbed her bag and walked out. She smiled forcefully when she saw Ron's eyes lit up when he saw her.
"Got everything you need?" asked Harry who was dressed in a comfortable pair of loose panrs and a very loose black shirt. Ginny was next to him in a pair of blue shorts and a black shirt.
"Yes," said Hermione shortly.
"Let's go then. Good luck everybody," said Ron apprehensively.
. & .
Hermione picked herself up as she arrived in the dark room. Harry, Ron, Severus, and Ginny positioned themselves around the room so they could have aims on Draco.
The minutes passed. Hermione trembled and bit her nails as the suspense grew. The tension was so thick it could probably be cut with a knife. The clock chimed. Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Severus pulled out their wands and braced themselves.
"Hermione," called a familiar voice.
"Draco," gasped Hermione running to meet him.
Severus let out an inaudible gasp as he saw his favorite pupil embrace Hermione. He nearly choked at the look of Draco's face. His usual look of arrogance and hatred was erased and replaced with a look of love and care. He knew this had been a horrible idea. As he titled his head and saw Hermione's face, he felt sick. He didn't want to go through with this.
"Let her go," said Harry's cold voice as he stepped out of the shadows so he was 20 feet away from Draco.
Draco pulled away from Hermione and the arrogance and hatred returned to his face.
"What are you doing here Potter?" he spat.
"To see revenge," hissed Harry dangerously.
Ron, Ginny, and Severus sprang from the shadows. Severus placed himself behind Draco and pointed his wand. Ron pulled Hermione away from Draco and positioned himself on his left side. Ginny stationed herself on his right side and stared angrily at Draco.
"Expelliarmus," muttered Severus. Draco's wand flew backward in his waiting hand.
"What?" asked Draco clearly at a loss for words when he saw his wand go to his Potions professor, "What is this? Severus, what are you doing with THEM?"
"They're my fellow members of the Order," said Severus.
"Severus…You're a spy?" asked Draco clearly at a loss, "Why?"
"You want to know why," roared Severus suddenly, "That so-called Lord made me give up my love as proof that I was loyal to him. Do you know who that was? LILY EVANS!"
Harry stepped backwards in shock as he heard his mother's name.
"Yes," seethed Severus, "She was a Muggle-born probably the smartest I ever met. You don't know what it was like hurting her emotionally. I had to drive her away with the word Mudblood! After years of merely seeing flashing images of her and mildly forgetting that I loved her, I heard her laugh for the first time, saw her smile and dimples, and remember the love that was stolen from me so long ago when Harry stepped into the castle. You don't know what it felt like when I sat at their grave on October 31 staring at the tombstones that read, LILY POTTER, instead of, LILY SNAPE. And it was because of Voldemort."
Draco looked shaken at his professor's confession.
"Hermione," said Draco turning towards her, "What is this?"
"Don't talk to her," snapped Ron, "You're nothing to her. She's Granger to you."
"We know what you were up to," chimed in Ginny, "You were using Hermione to kill our Aurors."
"I succeeded too," said Draco evilly.
Harry laughed derisively the sound echoing off the stonewalls. "My, my," mocked Harry," Who put you in Slytherin? We staged everything. Hermione faked loving you. It was YOUR army that diminished. It was YOUR lord that's screwed when he comes face to face with me."
Hermione felt her eyes tear up when she saw Draco's face sag.
"Hermione," he said turning towards her, "Tell me that what he's saying isn't true. You love me don't you? YOU LOVE ME RIGHT? Come Hermione, tell them you love me."
Harry, Ginny, Severus, and Ron turned towards Hermione. The tears slipped down her face as she watched him. She wanted to tell him that she loved him. Ron laughed as he took in Draco's defeated face.
"And now," said Harry lifting his wand, "You're going to meet the similar fate that your Lord will when I meet him."
For the first time, Draco's face blanched with fear. Hermione's face drained. Was Harry going to kill Draco? It couldn't be. He couldn't actually kill Draco.
Ron, Ginny, and Severus turned away while Hermione was rooted to the spot. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. She could see Draco's frightened face. Harry opened his mouth and said the two fateful words.
"Avada Kedavra."
A/N: Hey! Thanks so much for all the reviews. This is this place where I shall place my poll at the end of the chapter. I probably will be taking the opinion of the majority so if you want the ending to be happy or sad, please vote by leaving a review. If you feel strongly then I suggest that you spend 15 seconds or less of your time and vote! I am currently in a dilemma so all your opinions will be greatly appreciated. Anyways, here is the next chapter! I hope that y'all enjoy it.
The next chapter is the hardest to write so I will need some time to bring it the best of my ability. So my next update will probably be on Friday or Saturday! See y'all then. Enjoy!
Poll: Should the Hermione/Draco ending be happy or sad?