Disclaimer time - ok . . .blah, blah no, I do not own Draco (much to my great dismay), Hermione or any other characters you may recognize, if I did the movies would get far more interesting, trust me. This chapter was . . . difficult, lol, it was supposed to be somewhat of a break from the more intense few chapters, but Draco & Hermione both insisted on being stubborn, so this chapter turned into three, none of which went how I initially intended to write them {{{sighing}}}. On top of everything else, my stupid keyboard is screwed up, but hopefully, I'll get a new one later on this week. And of course, any typos & grammatical errors are, as usual, my fault . . . sorry. Anyway, let's skip the AN & get back into the story. . .
Chapter 23 – Those Nefarious Slytherin activities
Hermione resisted her impulse to hug him, afraid of injuring him further, so she restrained herself to just sitting there, watching him as she occasionally passed him pieces of chocolate. She had already refilled her bag and idly wondered what time it was, because it had to be getting late at this point. It wasn't like her to waste time, but she really didn't what else to do. The silence was oppressive between them, but she had no idea how to break it, without disturbing the fragile balance they had found. Draco had withdrawn completely inside his own head, his eyes staring sightlessly at some random point over her shoulder in some place she couldn't figure how to reach. She wanted to comfort him, but this was well beyond her depth of experience and she was afraid that leaving to get help would only make things worse, but she couldn't think of any other viable option.
Draco, on the other hand, couldn't figure out what she was playing at. She obviously had no intention of leaving anytime soon and as much as he might wish to make her, he had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn't up to that task at the moment. Knowing her, she probably wanted to somehow "fix" this or even worse "fix" him, but Draco knew better – sometimes no matter how much you might want to, not everything can never be fixed, the problem was going to be convincing her. He wished he had the courage to look into her eyes, so he'd have an idea of what was going through her head, but he couldn't make himself. He wasn't ready to see the pity, disgust or horror in her eyes and didn't know which he was more afraid of. After a while, she began to get visibly impatient, squirming in her seat and making herself impossible for him to continue to ignore.
"Ok, Hermione, I can tell you're dying to say something, so just get it over with, alright?"
His deliberately impassive tone and the fact that he still refused to acknowledge her existence in any other way was irritating as hell and she had to bite back her impulse to bitch him out. She could see how to was trying to distance himself from her and even thought she understand why he was doing it, but that didn't mean that she was going to let him get away it, either. "Look, you might not want to, but I really think you need to go and see Madame Pomfrey - "
Cutting her off angrily, he sighed. "I know you're a bloody do-gooder Gryffindor, but are you really that naïve?" At her blank look of confusion, he continued, shaking his head, "Dammit, Granger, think for a moment! You're supposed to be the smartest student this school has seen in generations, so use that brain of yours. I can't go anywhere near that damn medical wing, for reasons that should be more than obvious, even to you."
Despite her best resolutions, something about him had the unique ability to make her loose her vaunted self-control and she snapped back, "Fuck off, Malfoy. I'm trying to help you!!! So why won't you let me, asshole?"
"Help me?!?! I never asked for your damn help, did I?" He retaliated, his temper now also aroused.
"Well, like it or not, Draco, you need someone's help and I don't see anyone else here, do you?"
"Then get the fuck out!!!" Draco threw back at her.
There was a moment of intense silence between them, his darkly almost storm-lit eyes finally met hers and she gasped at the fury she saw in them. Uncertainty suddenly struck her, maybe this was more than she could handle, because, really, what did she know about this kind of abuse that he was obviously more than used to? Hermione decided, no matter what he wanted, she had to get someone to help. Someone else, an adult, someone had to be able to do something to stop this. Raising her arms in a gesture of surrender, she stood up, gathered her bag and began quietly backing out of the room.
Draco winced, feeling the odd stirrings of guilt and self-reproach in the heavy silence. This is what he wanted - to be left alone - but his thoughts were unconvincing, even to himself. He watched her walking away, the empty and hollow feeling inside him seeming to grow. His mouth opened to say . . . hell, he didn't even know what he wanted to say. He knew that he shouldn't call her back, didn't even know if she would come back, but he wasn't ready for this yet. Watching her walk away from him like this bothered him in ways he didn't even want to think about.
"Hermione . . . wait. Please, don't go, don't leave," his words were reluctantly torn from him and spoken so softly that she could barely heard them. Turning in the doorway, she paused, looking back at him but his eyes were already closed in defeat, unwilling to watch if she decided to leave, after all. Holding his breath, he listened, waiting to hear the slam of the door over his thudding heartbeat and fuzziness in his head. When after a moment went by and he still didn't hear anything, he hesitantly opened his eyes to see her standing and facing the door, her body half twisted, paused for the moment, but still ready to walk out. "Look, I know you only want to help and seriously, I do appreciate it, but you just don't understand."
Walking back to him, Hermione sat down on the floor in front of him, "what is that I don't understand?"
Sighing, he closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair. "You think it's so easy, don't you?"
"Isn't it?" Her voice was very quiet.
"Come on, Hermione, I can't go to Madame Pomfrey, it's just not possible."
"Why not?"
"Because," Draco felt like bashing his head into the nearest wall, "assuming she even believes me about the Cruciatus curse, she is going to want to know who cast it and why my reaction was so mild and I can't tell anyone that, ever." Was she even listening to him?
"Draco, why can't you tell them that your father cast the Cruciatus on you? Because he'll go to Azkaban?!? Yeah, well did it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe, he deserves to?" Hermione tried, but failed to keep her intense frustration out of her voice. Ok, so Lucius was his father, but he treats Draco terribly! For the life of her, she couldn't understand how his being locked up for the next ten years or so could be anything but a good thing.
He opened his eyes to stare at her seriously, "and what the fuck do you think that is actually going to accomplish?" His voice was tired, sick of arguing a battle he'd fought in his own head for years. "In case you've forgotten, my father works for the damn Ministry, Hermione. Even if I could get anyone to take my word against his, do you really believe that he'd allow himself to be caught?" He laughed bitterly, one of things he admired most about her was her innate belief in people - that sense of innocence she still maintained despite everything she'd seen in her life and he hated to be the one to taint it. It never occurred to him that he was only a few months older than she was, but had lost whatever innocence he might have had too long ago to even remember.
"Despite what you might think, every Aurur isn't in the Order of the Phoenix and even if they are, it doesn't mean they can be trusted." He smirked sarcastically, when she looked at him in shock. "Remember, Peter Pettigrew was in the Order and he still turned traitor, didn't he? And he wasn't the only one, Voltemorte has more spies than you can imagine and my father, even more. They would never catch him or even worse they would."
"What does that mean? And how do you know about the Order of Phoenix?" Hermione's eyes focused in on him suspiciously.
He shook his head, clearly annoyed, "I understand that this might be hard for you to realize, but when it comes to things like this, maybe, just fucking maybe, I know more than you do, ok? If my father gets locked up, what the hell do you would happen to me? Remember, I'm still a minor and it's not exactly like the wizarding world has anything even vaguely resembling muggle foster care. My mother can't take care of herself, let alone me, and my nearest relatives are either locked up in Azkaban or on the run from it. Besides, sooner or later some Deatheater would find and kill me in retaliation or else Lucius will do it himself. It doesn't matter because either way, I'd be fucked."
Once again, Hermione found herself not knowing what to say. He was right, she only knew what she learned in school or picked up from Ron and his family, but lacked the basic familiarity with the wizarding world that someone who like Draco had grown up in it would have. On the other hand, she refused to believe that there wasn't anything or anyone that could stop this, because no matter what Draco might say, something needed to be then about his father, but she didn't think that she was going to convince Draco of that anytime soon. She decided the best thing was to go along with him for now, but to figure what else she could for him on her own, since he was obviously refusing to consider all of his options.
"Ok, fine, we won't go to Madame Pomfrey, but you need something more than just chocolate."
He ran his hair though his hair, brushing it out of his eyes, with a slight smirk on his face. "Well there is something that I usually do after getting hit with an unforgivable that takes the edge off a bit, but I should probably go alone, since it's not exactly your scene." There was the slightest hint of a challenge in his voice that she couldn't quite interpret, but for the first time since he left her in the closet he was acting anywhere near his usual smart-ass self and it was enough to elicit a reluctant smile from her.
Tilting her head up at him, she arched an eyebrow, "ok, I'm sure I'm going to regret this, but, you might as well tell me what you're planning, since there is no way in hell, I'm leaving you alone in this state."
His smirk grew a shade wider, trap set and sprung. He hadn't planned on this particular snare, but Draco was never one to pass up a prime opportunity when it dangled before him either. As long as he was still strong enough to pull it off, this might actually work out in his favor. "Hmmm, well in that case, perhaps it be better if I showed you." Tentatively standing up, he tested his balance and while it wasn't as steady as he'd like, he was reasonably satisfied that he wasn't about to keel over either and began walking out of the room. "Well, are you coming or not," he tossed over his shoulder. Hermione's eyes narrowed as she wondered what he was up to this time, because she'd seen that smirk before and it was all too gleeful which set off her mental alarm bells, knowing Draco it only boded trouble. She sighed as she stood up, in for a penny, in for a pound, she thought and began following him down the stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Elsewhere Snape was walking from Dumbledore's office where they were having a meeting to discuss recent developments with the Order of Phoenix and was on his way to update Infinity. Suddenly shopping short, he ducked around the corner to watch Lucius Malfoy stroll out, looking overly smug, which as Snape knew from experience was never a good thing. His eyes narrowed as he wondered where Draco was and more to the point, what condition he was in. He waited momentarily for Malfoy to pass, before he hurried to his office and connecting quarters, if Draco needed a potion, he'd better make sure that he had something on hand and ready for him. Opening the door, he quickly strode across the room, until he reached his supply cabinet and began removing various flasks and bottles and placing them somewhat haphazardly on the counter.
"Whatcha making?" Infinity strolled across the room, hopping up onto his desk, idly picking up the ingredients he laid out and reading the labels.
"A healing potion for Draco. I saw his father earlier and I haven't seen Draco since." Snape continued digging through his cabinet, until he found the last bottle he was looking for.
"Why? You don't mean – " Infinity's voice trailed off, as she turned to him with a serious expression on her face.
"Take your pick of either the Cruciatus or Imperius curse, those tend to be his curses of choice when he wants to keep Draco in line, although I'd bet on the Cruciatus." Snape's voice was tight with repressed anger and his precise movements were a clear indicator to her of exactly how furious he actually was.
"Damn." She hopped off the desk and began to pace around it. "You mean it's starting already?" Looking up at him she had her answer. "Bloody hell, I had hoped that we'd have more time than this." She sighed heavily. "To make matters worse, I think things are beginning to heat up between Harry Potter and Draco, as well. I'll you give one guess why?"
"Miss Granger, I'd presume. And for the bonus point, I'd also say she was Lucius' excuse for whatever he might have done to Draco."
"You know, I really hate that bastard. Don't you wish that you hadn't stopped me from destroying him years ago?" As soon as the words crossed her lips, she mentally slapped herself in the head, already wishing she could call them back. She knew as well as anyone that certain events had to be allowed to occur, but that didn't mean she had to like that fact. "I'm sorry, Servus, that was a low blow, especially since I know were right and I'm as much to blame as anyone else." She walked over to place a hesitant hand on his arm, half fearful he might shake her off, closing her eyes briefly in relief as she felt him relax under her touch. "It's just so hard to not interfere."
"No one, least of all me, is happy about how this has all turned out thus far. Watching it all unfold and knowing that we had no choice but to let it happen has been especially difficult. We were at war then and very little has changed. At the time, it seemed like our best, and maybe our only, option to win." He shook his head wearily. "None of us could have known what that bastard, Lucius, was planning in that damned house, but out of everyone, I should have." His voice was unbearably grim to Infinity's ears. "We're all responsible in varying degrees - you, me and Dumbledore, we made the decision to keep Lucius alive and out of Azkaban and Draco has been paying the price ever since. Given the chance to do it again," his tone changed to that of an almost cool confession, "I might have killed Lucius myself." Moving in his elegantly spare and carefully controlled motions, he continued measuring out the components of the potion. "There is nothing to do now, but to let this play out and try to protect him as best as we can."
Infinity walked up behind him, resting her head on his shoulder. "But can we? Can we really protect him? You have to admit, we've done a terrible job of it so far."
Snape closed his eyes and let his head rest against her for a moment. "Well, if the ending scene is coming, then at least we'll finally be free to act. It will be enough, it has to be." His arm wrapped back around her body tightly for a moment, before releasing her. "Stand back," and they both moved back as he added the last ingredient and the potion sparked. He waited as the green smoke cleared, before carefully pouring the newly made potion into a bottle and carefully labeling it Sedo Versum. "For now all we can do is wait."
Infinity hopped back onto the desk, clearly unsatisfied with that answer. "Yeah . . . did I ever mention to you how much I hate waiting?"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione was growing more impatient by the minute and Draco adamantly refused to tell where they were going or what they were going to do when they got there. It was enough to make her want to scream. The knowledge that she would wake up nearly every student, not to mention professor in range, or even worse Flitch, was the only thing keeping her silent. "Where the hell are we going, Draco?" She fiercely whispered, tugging on his robe, pulling him to a dead stop.
Looking down at her, he lazily smirked. "Why? Getting nervous already, Granger?" His hand reached out, brushing a lock of her hair off her face. "Maybe you should just run along to your little Gryffindor ivory tower, hmm?"
She rolled her eyes. "Don't think I'm oblivious to the fact that you are deliberately baiting me, Malfoy. If you want me to leave that badly, just say the word and I'm gone, I wouldn't want to impede any of your nefarious Slytherin activities."
Draco stared at her a moment, before he began laughing. "If I didn't want you to come here, then believe me, you wouldn't be. But nefarious? Do you really think so? I almost feel complimented."
Hermione shook her head in disbelief. "Of course you would. Why am I not surprised? Anyway, your best effort to distract me has failed, miserably, I might add, I still want an answer to my question."
"Don't kid yourself." Draco braced one hand on the wall above Hermione's head and leaned in, his breath brushing her neck. "That was hardly, my 'best' effort," before abruptly pushing himself away, "but unluckily for you, I'm not quite up to speed enough for that yet. Maybe later . . . if you're a good little girl." He turned his back to her, one hand pressing against his ribs, as he winced in pain. Lately the aftereffects had been getting worse, but he'd be damned if he let his father ruin his life anymore tonight and after a moment he recovered. He gave her a teasing smile and if it seemed a little forced, neither decided to comment on it, before he continued towards wherever he was taking her. Eyes wide open, she watched him walk away a few feet. "Well, are you coming or not?" He tossed over his shoulder.
In the back of her mind, Hermione really wondered what she was doing. Although Draco was putting on a good show, she had years of experience seeing things that people didn't necessarily want her to notice and was well aware that he wasn't as fine as he'd like her to believe . . . unless that was what he wanted her to think, with him you could never be sure. Damn sneaky Slytherins . . . She narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists. He really was determined to drive her mad, she decided, before she grudgingly began following him again.
Draco smirked when he heard her catching up with him. Since he'd began spending time with the Gryffindor, he'd been slowly introducing her to the more shadowy aspects of his life, but he really wondered how she was going to react to this taste of "nefariousness". Honestly, it could go either way – she either run out immediately searching for a professor to bust him or she'd wind up partaking in one fashion or another. The unpredictability factor was one of the facets of her personality that he adored watching in action, the little bit of random chaos that was endlessly fascinating to him.
Finally they reached the room – the former home of Dumbledore's Army, the Room of Readiness. Draco had to knock loudly to be heard over the din of music she could hear playing from beyond the door and a voice suspiciously demanded, "password?" Hermione looked at Draco in surprise because she knew that voice very well, but he ignored her, kicking the door violently instead.
"Fuck off, Seamus and open the damn door."
"I need a password," the voice now recognizable as Seamus Finnigan insisted.
"You fucking prat! Who the hell do you think you are, a bouncer at a speakeasy or something? Obviously it's me, Malfoy, and not a narc or a professor, because I'd have already broken the bloody door in already." Draco's voice was growingly increasingly impatient and he began sliding his wand out of his pocket, when the door abruptly opened. He grabbed Hermione's arm, dragging her suddenly reluctant figure into the smoke clouded room as he strode into the middle of it.
Ok . . . once again, if you've left me your email, I added you to my brand new mailing list for this story, so you get a happy little email each & every time I update, if I didn't get one, well obviously I don't have your email or I missed it somehow. If you review this chapter & leave your email in the review or I can get it off your profile, I will gladly add you. Once again, I'm really sorry about the delay, like Draco, things got out of my control. I promise if you continue to review & show interest in this story, I will definitely continue to write it. Don't forget reviews are like candy & I'm nothing if not a sugar addict. So please, read, enjoy & review ;)