Sorry this has taken a while... writer's block is my worst enemy. I hope you enjoy this chapter, although the earliest the next one can be up is next Saturday, because I'm going away for a week. Have a great summer, everyone! And as always, keep the reviews coming =) By the way, I just saw Cruel Intentions... does Ryan Phillipe in that movie remind anyone else rather strongly of Draco?
"That's awful," Ginny breathed next to her, as Hermione snapped out of her thoughts. The room fell silent as they noticed the two horror-struck girls. Hermione jerked her eyes away, staring into the carpet deep in thought. She had known. Would she have been able to prevent this had she hurried away when he told her? She never would have imagined. A strong rush of guilt and hatred ran through her, and she scanned the article again.
Harry swore lightly from behind her shoulder, as she turned around and saw half of the Gryffindors crowded around, staring wide-eyed.
'Fudge murdered without possible meaning'
Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic has been killed this afternoon, November the 3rd, after a supposed group of unknown people stormed his private ward in St. Mungo's, somehow managing to set several death curses to the unfortunate man, under the eyes of hospital staff, without even being noticed. There seems no reason for this attack, after the previous one several weeks ago, though seemingly He Who Must Not Be Named is clearly determined to make himself known once again. "Perhaps whoever wanted him dead in the first place came to finish him off," said a frazzled Mediwitch at the scene shortly after. Many others believe it may have been Fudge himself under the Imperius. The other wizards he was originally attacked with [names still undisclosed] have fallen into worse conditions, one even into a comatose state. Whatever is being planned next, we send our sincerest apologies to the family and friends of this poor man, and hope we can be better prepared next time. If those responsible for this murder are caught, they will await a lifetime sentence in Azkaban, with trial for a Dementor's Kiss.
Her grip fell lose as several younger students stole the paper from Hermione's grasp, and hurried off, speaking loudly to one another. She slumped over in a chair, followed closely by Harry, Ron and Ginny. Harry was staring into the fire, emerald eyes blazing with hatred. Ron was muttering something, glancing at Harry, and Ginny had silent tears running down her cheeks. Hermione shut her eyes and ran a hand through her thick hair, imagining herself to wake up any time now.
"Do you see what you get for fraternizing with people like that, Hermione?" Ron broke the tense silence after a pause. "You get pain, torture and death," he said, every syllable positively shaking with rage. Harry looked up insightfully, as his bright eyes narrowed slightly. Hermione winced, and he turned his gaze on her.
"I don't 'fraternize' with Death Eaters, Ron," she said in an indignant tone. "And if you needed to know, Malfoy doesn't even have the Dark Mark," she said distastefully, interpreting his next words.
"He would obviously use a concealment charm," Ron retorted whole-heartedly.
"Have you gone mad? You can't conceal the Dark Mark, Ron." She muttered in true shock. "The Ministry will have thought of that, and the magic's too different to work with ordinary spells. If everyone did that, then there would be no way to ever tell who is a death eater and who isn't, unless they admit it themselves, and even then it could be under an Imperius curse, by a real Death Eater, so no one would ever be caught," she stated quite loudly, as Ron seemed to distinctly shrink in his seat.
"And you just know he doesn't have the mark?" Harry broke in, anger pouring through his words. "Show you in bed, did he?" He said, voice getting louder. Hermione glared at him, full of anger to this man who had been her best friend for six years. "He would love nothing better than to see you dead, Hermione," he finished strongly, looking away from her. Hermione looked weakly at Ginny, who seemed stunned that Harry would say something like that.
"Fuck you, Harry," Hermione muttered darkly. "I'm on your side, you know. I would never betray you, but just go right ahead and hate me for it anyway. See if I give a shit," she said exhaustedly, as she left the common room. She was so tired of them thinking she was out to cross over to the dark side, she almost considered it for a moment, just to spite them. The hateful thoughts quickly evaporated from her mind, as she began to walk.
Twenty minutes later Ginny found her sitting by the lake, arms wrapped around her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks. Ginny sat down next to her friend, and was silent for a moment, in contemplation.
"I told him off, you know. Harry," she said softly, looking into the lake. "He shouldn't have said that."
Hermione made no movement to suggest she had heard her friend, though she looked up and watched the giant squid throw rocks at people. She sighed loudly, and shook her head loosely.
"I knew, Gin," she said after a long time. "About Fudge," she continued as she saw her friend's look of confusion. Ginny gaped and she looked away, not wanting to meet her friend's gaze.
"How could you know Fudge was going to be killed?" Ginny asked softly.
"Not entirely that, I knew the dark side was mad. He was improving," she said in a near whisper.
Ginny's eyes widened in shock. "How did you-" she said, as if she already knew the answer but wasn't willing to believe it.
"He told me," she whispered, eyes blurring. "I should have told Dumbledore, I know, I was stupid," she muttered. Ginny shook her head unexpectedly.
"All you could have done would be to warn the ministry of the possibility that someone was upset with his recovery, which was already undoubtedly known. Not to mention you would have destroyed Malfoy's trust in you. And it seemed like Fudge had already been killed earlier this afternoon, whereas you only found out slightly before the prefect's meeting, so it may have already occured," Ginny spouted off, as Hermione stared at her in shock. She certainly had a lot of reasons to quell Hermione's guilt.
Far from being reassured, Hermione was still lenient and angry. She stood up suddenly, a neutral expression on her face, though her eyes flashed momentarily.
She walked purposefully towards the castle, as Ginny followed, unsure of what she was doing. Her friend eventually stopped in the middle of a corridor, and Ginny's eyes widened in apprehension. She grinned slightly as Hermione muttered something and the passageway into Hogsmeade revealed itself.
Hermione strode purposefully down the streets of the empty town, straight past The Three Broomsticks without a glance. Ginny looked nervously behind her as she followed hesitantly. Her eyes widened involuntarily as her friend stopped, outside and beat up old shack-like building which she knew well enough to be the Hog's Head.
"Hermione... what are you doing?" Ginny asked, a tone of pleading to her voice.
"I remember Ron once said," the older girl replied, opening the door, and trying hard to ignore the pang in her chest at the thought of Ron, "that he figured he could get anything from this place," she finished with a bitter smile. "And if my best friends don't give a damn about me, why should I, right?" She added as an afterthought, although the grin had faded into a frown.
Ginny sighed heavily and followed her in, hoping this state of mind would pass before Hermione could do anything too drastic in her unpredictable mind frame.
Ginny watched miserably as several drunken men, teetering on their stools, all hurried to buy Hermione a drink. The latter sat down, neutral expression plastered firmly to her face, as she obliged. Where had things changed? When had she snapped? Ginny couldn't tell when this almost complete 180 degree change had occurred, as far as she knew, Hermione had always been the same.
But as much as she tried to hide in her joyous oblivion, she knew her friend wasn't happy. She had started to see how Ron and Harry treated her. As little more than a way to get their homework done. There was a time, perhaps near the end of first year, or in the other earlier years, when the three had been inseparable. Ginny had enjoyed hearing about their relationship from Ron each summer.
Somewhere around Ginny's third year, she noticed something. Hermione wasn't as open and welcome with the boys as much anymore. It seemed to start with the Krum episode; Harry and Ron didn't understand that she wanted to have something special about the time to herself; they thundered in, destroying her excitement. All through their fifth year, Harry was stressed about everything involving the Dark Lord, and now...
Ginny sighed again. Hermione would be leaving this year; they would all be. Ginny wasn't too sure she would be coming back herself, after all she had heard of the war. Although she had complete faith in Hermione, Ginny had begun to wonder whether the intellect in her brain had seen the rising strength of the dark side. But the heart, which can stand in the way of the darkest magic, had spoken.
Ginny knew that, however much she tried to protest that she felt nothing but malcontent and hatred at the mention of Slytherins, particularly one, Hermione felt something towards him. It crushed her to see, after all she had heard. The last thing Hermione needed this year was for her heart to be broken. Ginny suspected something else was hidden in Hermione's wandering mind, but she hadn't a clue what could be kept as such a breaking secret in her heart.
A loud bang jolted Ginny from her thoughts, and she saw Hermione standing, wand pointed straight ahead, and one of the drunken men flat on the ground, under a full body bind curse. The rest of the men seemed to back off, and Hermione sat back down sullenly, continuing her drink. Ginny hurried over; she couldn't believe she had let her friend sit alone with those maniacal people. Angry and wasted. Watching their lives filter away through the bottle.
"Hermione, I think we should go back to the school," she muttered quietly. Her friend turned hazed eyes on her, and gave a slight sneer.
"Go ahead if you're scared of getting caught. It's hardly even late yet," Hermione replied loudly, taking another drink, as the men around laughed. Ginny gave a wry look at them, fingering her wand in her pocket. Some of them turned their gazes on her, eyes burning with lust. She shuddered, and backed away slightly.
"Hermione, come on!" She said louder, reaching towards her friend. She shut her eyes as she ducked towards the bar, and opened them to find Hermione's wand pointed directly at her, her hand shaking slightly from the alcohol, eyes glaring. Ginny backed up, eyes focused on the wand in front of her. She couldn't have guessed at how much Hermione had had to drink, though she saw how eager the men were to force drinks on her. A surge of anger filled her at the men, staring at her friend as if she were a piece of meat.
On a sudden impulse, Ginny pulled out her wand, and hit her friend with a freezing spell before she even saw the wand. Ginny saw Hermione's angry eyes staring at her, as she quickly levitated her out of the bar, with no other choice. Once outside, she lifted the spell, wand pointed firmly at her friend, who was in such a state of intoxication that her reflexes were barely working.
She ripped the wand from Hermione hand, and forced her back to the school, ignoring the puzzled looks she was being sent. She saw the full effect of the wizard's liquor, which tended to be stronger than Muggle, hitting Hermione as she stumbled through the passageway into the school. After a narrow escape wherein they came closer to Snape than she had wished, Ginny knocked loudly on the portrait door to the Head's common room, hoping for the first time in her life that Malfoy would be there.
She was about to turn away when the door opened slowly, and he stood there, an amused expression dancing in his eyes, his lips curled upwards in mirth.
"What, may I ask, have you done?" He asked Ginny shortly, watching Hermione struggle for her wand.
"I have done nothing, Malfoy, she did this to herself," she replied harshly, and the grin faded from his face.
"Why?" he asked simply, as she noticed he was there, and watched him scrutinize her. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she most likely had more than just liquor, or else a large amount of it.
Ginny sighed. Here she had to make her own house look cruel and evil, where he would most likely feel for Hermione, rather than Ron and Harry. "Harry said some inconsiderate things to her," she said openly.
"Wow, you're such a help. Come on, bring her in," he said sarcastically, moving out of the doorway, and into the common room. Ginny followed, and Hermione obligingly trudged into the room, glaring at most anything. She looked over at Malfoy, who had his lips pursed slightly in thought.
She was hit by an overwhelming wave of desire. She stared intently at his golden locks, falling casually in his eyes; his bright silver eyes that she wished to be directed into her own; his succulent pink lips. What was Ginny doing there, she thought irritably, as she tried to capture his attention. He shifted his gaze, catching onto her and he appeared shocked, at the excessively open passion she was displaying towards him.
Her eyelids were heavy, as her eyes darkened with lust, and she stared right at him. He gaped openly, though Ginny couldn't see why.
"What all did she have, do you know?" he asked Ginny, eyes narrowed slightly, still focused on Hermione.
"I don't know," she admitted. "Some men were giving her drinks, I didn't see what they were," she said softly, watching Malfoy with intent.
"Nothing else?" he asked. She saw... somewhere deep into the silver oceans that were his eyes... concern. A strong thought hit her intensely, that this wasn't just a facade. He cared about Hermione, more than anything right now, and she was ashamed to feel tears welling up in her eyes. She glanced away.
"Not that I saw." He resumed looking closely at his roommate, who was breathing heavily, still staring at him, moving slightly closer... closer... He backed away; whatever was controlling her mind right now wasn't the sensible girl she normally was.
"You never know with people in the Hog's Head," he snapped shortly. She moved her gaze, and he was very aware of her scanning his well toned frame; slightly visible through his black wife beater. Ginny frowned, and looked at the ground. Her friend seemed to have hit an abrupt change, and she was no longer stumbling and dizzy. It scared her; what if she had been given something else while Ginny wasn't looking? Those men weren't exactly friendly.
"She's been given a lust potion," he said suddenly, jerking her from her thoughts. "And a poorly brewed one at that," he continued, staring at her. Ginny opened her mouth slightly to say something, but could think of nothing.
"If it was well made, she would most likely be all over me right now," he said with an air of amusement, though still puzzlement. "It was good, she would have fallen very deeply into lust with the first male she saw... and I highly doubt she hasn't seen anyone before me." He looked over at Ginny, confirming this statement as she shook her head. "In which case, it leads me to believe that she has been lusting after everyone she's seen since the potion took full effect," he said matter-of-factly to Ginny.
"How long will it last?" Ginny asked, not bothering to wonder how he knew so much about lust potions.
"Normally, she would be back to normal within 24 hours. Now, I don't know," he said simply. "She might go looking for anyone she's seen, although if I'm the only one she's seen in the school, she wouldn't go much further," he said, shrugging. Somehow Ginny got the impression that he wouldn't take advantage of the situation.
"But she would go after someone else in Hogwarts?" Ginny asked, a sudden though occurring to her. He nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Hermione. In his time of talking to Ginny, she had apparently felt ignored. And she chose to let him know she was still there, by pressing her lips hard to his. Ginny's eyes widened, and Draco fought hard to ignore the irresistible heat spreading through him at her touch.
He pushed her away, grabbing her wrists in one hand, and she sent him a seductive grin, obviously unaware of the fact that he wasn't reciprocating her actions.
"She didn't see anyone else, did she?" He asked, struggling to hold her away from him. She suddenly ceased, eyes glazing over, and she ran out of the portrait, a look of determination painted on her features.
"She saw Snape," Ginny whispered, as they turned to watch her go.
"Shit."