DISCLAIMER: If you think I own Harry Potter, you are severely delusional and probably need help.
Hermione awoke, and rolled over, expecting Draco to be beside her. Instead, she started as she saw the locket he had placed on the pillow. She gazed at it, and ran her fingers over the top as if it had the answers to the dread that was invading every cell of her body.
She leapt out of his silky bed, and desperately searched their quarters for any sign of his presence. Suddenly, something caught her eye and she stopped dead. The area where Draco proudly displayed his broom was empty. He was gone. She ran out the door in panic.
After murmuring the password to Dumbledore's office, she threw open his door with fiery passion. "Headmaster! Dra…" She cut herself off when she noticed Ron and Harry seated in the small room.
"Ah, Hermione. I was just sending for you. I'm afraid I have bad news once again." His face was more drawn then she had ever seen it, and Harry and Ron's faces mimicked the growing terror in Hermione's chest. Did this have to do with Draco? If so, why were Ron and Harry here?
"Remus Lupin was murdered last night by Voldemort himself." Dumbledore paused, letting this news sink in. Hermione glanced at Harry, who had been closer to Lupin then any of them. His face was suddenly paler than even Draco's, and he sank into his seat as yet another block of despair was added to his emotions.
"Also, your parents," Dumbledore nodded at Ron, who looked as if he was about to throw up, "have been sent to St. Mungo's. They will survive, but they were battling Death Eaters trying to get to Lupin in time…the Cruciatus curse was used on them repeatedly, however, they managed to sustain their minds against any permanent damage. You will be able to visit them very soon, along with your sister." Ron nodded, his red hair contrasting sharply with his horrifying, ashen face.
"I'll kill him. I swear I will. It will be me who wins in the end, Headmaster. I'll make him pay for what he did to Lupin."
"You are the only one who can kill him Harry, and so I dearly hope you are right. Just remember what I have taught you."
Harry nodded tersely, and slowly stalked out of the room, looking on the verge of collapse. Ron followed him, and the last thing Hermione saw before Dumbledore's door swung shut was Harry shaking off Ginny, who was waiting outside to leave with Ron.
Hermione turned back to the wizened old man in front of her, and noticed how haunted his eyes were. "Harry is slipping." His voice was frail, and Hermione didn't know how to respond.
"I have told him repeatedly how the Dark Lord has only one true weakness…and now he is developing the same trait. His ability to love is diminishing under the stress. I do not blame him…it is far too much for one person to be responsible for." Hermione listened, and feared for her friend. Images of his dead and crumpled body flashed in her mind, and she renewed her constant vow to help him.
Dumbledore seemed to gather some strength, and looked at Hermione. "I'm guessing you want to know where young Malfoy has gone."
"Yes, sir. Please."
"Draco cares for you a lot Hermione…and he has made a sacrifice for it. Luckily, I am as gifted in Legilimency, if it is not too bold to say so, as Lucius Malfoy, and as soon as Draco dropped the wall he had created to keep his father out, I was able to understand what he was doing as he left the castle in the middle of the night." Hermione felt her earlier panic rise again. He had let his father in? That meant Lucius would know…he would know about them.
"No, Draco is a very powerful young wizard Ms. Granger….more powerful than his father realizes. Voldemort has seen it, and covets Draco because of it. But Draco has only allowed certain aspects of his mind to be seen by those against him. He has returned so that his father will not question his loyalties, and therefore put you out of immediate danger because of the feelings you have for each other. He is going to be branded as a Death Eater, this he knows, and Voldemort will expect great things from him." Hermione whimpered, this new piece of information cutting through her like a dagger. He was going to give up his freedom for her.
"Draco is a dark soul, Hermione. He always will be. You are full of light, and by falling in love with him, you have caused an upset that is rarely seen in our universe. Dark and light do not intertwine easily. However, as long as you love him, Draco will be able to manage how much control the darkness has over him. He will be able to hide his true feelings from his new Lord.
"There is one more thing. I'm sure Draco knows that love is a beacon, through which Voldemort will be able to gain access to his thoughts. Wear this," Dumbledore handed her a silver necklace, "and it will block this emotion from being sensed by anybody who doesn't want to see it for good purposes only. I was unable to give Draco his, but it can be used over a long distance, although only for a short while."
Dumbledore motioned toward a nearly identical necklace that was hanging near his desk. It was glowing, and the power emitted from it was incredible. Its waves of protective magic were traveling to Draco, and looking at it, Hermione felt some of her horrified tension ease. She stood up, and held the two artifacts, yearning for Draco to be beside her.
"Keep them safe, Hermione. If you posses Draco's it may last longer…hopefully it will be long enough for him to return."
"Will he be back soon?"
"If my assumptions are right, then yes. Voldemort will want him to spy on the inner workings of Hogwarts. If everything works out right, Draco will end up being an enormous asset to our side in this inevitable war and to the destruction of Voldemort. Merlin knows, Harry needs all the help he can get." Dumbledore's eyes grew sharp, and he smiled faintly, but it was a smile that made Hermione's blood turn to ice. War was coming, and Draco was in the middle of it.
As she walked slowly back to her room, Hermione felt tears sting her eyes. What if Draco never came back? Voldemort would read him, find the thoughts he was trying to keep hidden, and kill him.
She glanced down at the necklaces clasped in her hands, and gasped at their beauty. Hers was an orb with fire dancing in the center of it. A lion seemed to exist within the flames, proudly tossing its fiery mane and flashing protective teeth. Around the orb, a heart was thinly woven out of silver and diamond, and the light from the windows made it flash and sparkle. Draco's was the same, except instead of the lion, an ice serpent coiled within a sea of darkness. It was almost evil, but the serpent glowed so sharply that it almost overcame the black depths it was in.
Hermione was so lost in the necklaces that she didn't notice the staircase she was about to step on move. Her foot hit only air and she was about to tumble off the platform before strong arms grabbed her.
"Harry!" When she turned, she noticed his normally sparkling emerald eyes were now dull with the weight he had to carry. The news of Lupin's death seemed to have brought the reality of his fate to him.
"Be careful, Hermione." He glanced at the magical pendants in her hand, and she quickly covered them. He looked at if he was about to ask her what they were, but didn't have the willpower, and softly released her.
"Harry…do you need to talk about it?"
"No! I'm fine, ok? Fuck this. First Ginny, now you. I can handle it!"
"I know that Harry! But you don't have to be alone with this. Ginny loves you Harry, you know how important that is."
"It doesn't matter. He'll kill her. Love doesn't fucking save anybody. Lupin was in love with Tonks, Hermione. Did you know that? And look what happened to him."
With this, Harry spun around and walked off, leaving Hermione stunned behind him. She looked down, tears filling her eyes. This was war. It destroys everybody in its path, in whatever way it could. She yearned for the days when Voldemort wasn't in their minds in every second, where bad things happened and Harry was in danger, but it wasn't so close, so immediate. She wanted the days when a kiss at a party was a big deal, where things like that mattered.
The days where thoughts of death and love had to battle were here now.
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