Author's Note: Thank you for all of your reviews! It's really nice getting
them, so thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you to those who wished for
me to get better... and I did, I'm really happy to say! This chapter is
quite short, mainly because I wanted all the actualities of the story to be
in the next one. Well anyway, I hope you like it... and what's to follow,
of course! Onwards!
Chapter 18: A Prelude
He would kill me if he knew that I knew! Hermione chided herself harshly during a damp, cold night while she was alone in her room. It had been a month after Emil and Olivia's wedding and everything was back to normal in the Malfoy castle.
Perhaps the only thing exciting right now was the fact that Starshine had given birth. Which was why Draco was in the stables, taking care of the animals in the dead of night. It was also the reason why Hermione wanted nothing else than to be in his arms, making her feel safe and protected from the March night.
Spring was making its way towards that part of France, but the air was still chilly and the snow had not yet lifted from the earth.
Hermione sighed as she lifted herself off the window ledge where she'd spent the past half hour looking out into the garden. Well actually, she spent the past half hour looking out at the dark. She couldn't sleep and she knew the reason why.
It was that damn excerpt!
Hermione walked towards her bed, not bothering to remove the shawl she'd placed over her shoulders when she peered out into the darkness, and slipped in between the covers. It was that damn excerpt that kept her from having a good night's sleep.
She rolled over to her side, thinking about the piece of paper she'd found in the storage-turned-sitting room long before, when she had nothing to do as Draco was off fighting in the battles with his friend. She'd found it in one of the boxes lying around in the room. She knew she should have left it alone, for it was a probably a page out of Draco's journal, but she didn't. Instead, she had to read what it contained.
It was no more than a few words really, but it gave her the chills from just reading them. She had kept it for so long, waiting for the time that Draco would finally find out and curse and get angry at her. So far, after a few months of keeping it to herself, he never suspected a thing. The page was partly burned, meaning that he had forgotten what he written so long before. He had intended to forget.
She kept the piece of parchment with her at all times, meaning to always ask Draco about what he meant by writing it. She assumed that he did write it, anyway. But she also wanted him to tell her about what happened before. She was waiting for that exact moment when he would break down the walls and let her into his memory.
The writings on the paper were imprinted clearly in Hermione's mind.
It read:
'I killed him, Father. And I will kill them as well. I am a murderer... their blood will forever taint my hands. Durant will never see the light. And neither will I.'
* * *
A hundred miles or so away, Gareth Durant was busy planning his attack. When he had come home to his fortress in Normandy, foul news befell on him for he found out that his spy had been killed by no other than the man who killed every known Durant. Except for him.
Gareth paced around his room, thinking about the best plan of attack.
He had gone through with his first phase of his plan. He had never seen Draco Malfoy before. He had only heard stories that he was a good and just Lord. But no one dared to speak of Malfoy's past.
No one even acknowledged Malfoy to be the murderer of the Durant clan. Just because Madigan Durant was a bastard and a rapist, does not mean that people should just forget about what Malfoy did to him.
At quite an early age of thirteen, Gareth had only one mission in life. To kill the man, no, the boy, who killed his father. To deal him the same kind of death he had dealt his father.
Images of his childhood began flooding back. How he saw his father's army approached their home... Gareth had searched for his father's horse in the midst, but he never found it. When he came down, his father's soldiers presented to him the head of his father, decapitated and impaled on a staff.
A note was nailed on his father's head. It was covered in blood, but was still readable. The handwriting was shaky, almost as if the note was made in anger and fury.
It read:
'Madigan Durant falls... and so will the rest of Durant. Every life slain will be for my father's. I will not stop until the last of Durant blood falls on the ground.'
Gareth had read it and his eyes fell on the last piece of the note on the lower right side of the paper. He knew he would never want or crave death until he saw to the demise of the one who killed his own father. The note was signed by Draco Malfoy.
Gareth snapped back to the present, his hands clenched at his sides and his whole body bursting with anger. He cursed Malfoy.
He killed my father, and every single Durant in the whole of France! Gareth thought angrily as he looked out of the window and watched as the black of the night began to slowly fade. It was morning. He continued his train of thought. And they [the people] do not even hang him for his crimes! They do not avenge my family's death! They praise him and cower before me!
He pushed off the window ledge and glanced at the map of France he had spread on his desk. His eyes rested on Brittany for a moment before sliding over to Aquitaine.
Gareth had attended the wedding of Emil de Gervais and Olivia Haven without them knowing that a Durant was in the midst. No one had suspected, especially Draco Malfoy.
He smiled evilly. It was one tactic of war... to know your enemy before he knows you. And to know what he holds dear so you can take it away from him. His smile quickly turned into a scowl when he thought about what Malfoy held dear.
It had been so easy... He simply posed as a distant relative, even gave her a fake name. She obviously did not know anything much because if she did, she would have known that there was no such person as Sir William of England.
Gareth recalled their conversation. She had been polite, but Gareth knew that any advances towards her would be futile, because she dearly loved Draco Malfoy.
He took a few deep breaths before turning back to the window and saying:
"I want to kill the man who murdered my father. I want to take away what he has, and crush it in the palm of my hand. I will take away his only weakness, his source, his being and use it against him. I will have you Lady Hermione - I will take you away from the man who truly loves you for who you are and what you mean to him."
* * *
Spring had finally settled in after a few more weeks and Hermione was never happier to be back in Draco's garden, tending to the plants and flowers while he went on with the training of his soldiers and such. Hermione placed that paper at the back of her mind.
It was not hard to forget about it really. Who would think about a piece of paper when you had the man of your dreams kissing you senseless every time you two were alone? If not kissing, then looking at you with that intense stare that looked right through you and into your soul...
It was during one spring afternoon that shattered it all. Draco and Hermione were in the sitting room simply talking when a soldier arrived, bearing news for Draco.
Draco spoke with the man in hushed tones, but Hermione instinctively knew what they were talking about. When the man left and Draco sat back down on the couch, Hermione asked him on impulse, never minding the consequences.
"It's about Durant, isn't it? He's planning something." Hermione said. Draco looked at her, shock and confusion on his face.
"How do you know about Durant?" He asked levelly.
Hermione took a deep breath before reaching down under her gown and pulling out the piece of paper she'd always carried in her chest. With shaking hands, she gave it to him. She couldn't look at him after that.
Draco took the paper and unfolded it. His eyes read over the familiar lines and his blood began to boil. He looked straight ahead.
"Where did you find this?" He asked, his voice as cold as ice.
"Right here... when it was still used as a storage room." Hermione answered in a soft voice.
"So you knew about me... about this... for-"
"More or less four months. I know." Hermione interrupted.
There was silence. Then Draco rose up.
"Draco?" Hermione called just as he stood up. His back was towards her and he was breathing in what seemed to be deep and calming intakes of air. "I'm-"
"Stop." He said harshly. His hands were clenched at his sides and he was shaking. "Just stop. Don't lie to me anymore."
"I did not lie, Draco." Hermione said, standing up as well and laying a hand on his arm which he shrugged off.
"You did." He answered, looking back at her. Hermione's eye started to water at the anger evident on his face. "You kept this whole thing from me..."
"I didn't know how to ask you... I meant to ask you, Draco. Please..." Hermione pleaded.
"Be quiet." Draco said. Hermione shut her mouth with a snap. It took a few moments before Draco suddenly stalked out of the room. Hermione quickly followed and grabbed his arm.
He stopped. But the look he gave her made her want to cry. And the words he said after made her want to die.
"Get out. Leave. I don't care anymore." Draco said before walking out into the hall and making his way towards his room.
"Draco...!" Hermione called after him. She felt powerless to stop him and weak to follow him. She sank down on the floor and placed her head in her hands.
After a few minutes of uncontrolled sobbing, she made a decision. Getting up quickly and going to her own room, she planned to heed what Draco had ordered her to do.
She would leave him. She did not know where she would go... or what would happen to her if she did. She didn't care anymore.
Chapter 18: A Prelude
He would kill me if he knew that I knew! Hermione chided herself harshly during a damp, cold night while she was alone in her room. It had been a month after Emil and Olivia's wedding and everything was back to normal in the Malfoy castle.
Perhaps the only thing exciting right now was the fact that Starshine had given birth. Which was why Draco was in the stables, taking care of the animals in the dead of night. It was also the reason why Hermione wanted nothing else than to be in his arms, making her feel safe and protected from the March night.
Spring was making its way towards that part of France, but the air was still chilly and the snow had not yet lifted from the earth.
Hermione sighed as she lifted herself off the window ledge where she'd spent the past half hour looking out into the garden. Well actually, she spent the past half hour looking out at the dark. She couldn't sleep and she knew the reason why.
It was that damn excerpt!
Hermione walked towards her bed, not bothering to remove the shawl she'd placed over her shoulders when she peered out into the darkness, and slipped in between the covers. It was that damn excerpt that kept her from having a good night's sleep.
She rolled over to her side, thinking about the piece of paper she'd found in the storage-turned-sitting room long before, when she had nothing to do as Draco was off fighting in the battles with his friend. She'd found it in one of the boxes lying around in the room. She knew she should have left it alone, for it was a probably a page out of Draco's journal, but she didn't. Instead, she had to read what it contained.
It was no more than a few words really, but it gave her the chills from just reading them. She had kept it for so long, waiting for the time that Draco would finally find out and curse and get angry at her. So far, after a few months of keeping it to herself, he never suspected a thing. The page was partly burned, meaning that he had forgotten what he written so long before. He had intended to forget.
She kept the piece of parchment with her at all times, meaning to always ask Draco about what he meant by writing it. She assumed that he did write it, anyway. But she also wanted him to tell her about what happened before. She was waiting for that exact moment when he would break down the walls and let her into his memory.
The writings on the paper were imprinted clearly in Hermione's mind.
It read:
'I killed him, Father. And I will kill them as well. I am a murderer... their blood will forever taint my hands. Durant will never see the light. And neither will I.'
* * *
A hundred miles or so away, Gareth Durant was busy planning his attack. When he had come home to his fortress in Normandy, foul news befell on him for he found out that his spy had been killed by no other than the man who killed every known Durant. Except for him.
Gareth paced around his room, thinking about the best plan of attack.
He had gone through with his first phase of his plan. He had never seen Draco Malfoy before. He had only heard stories that he was a good and just Lord. But no one dared to speak of Malfoy's past.
No one even acknowledged Malfoy to be the murderer of the Durant clan. Just because Madigan Durant was a bastard and a rapist, does not mean that people should just forget about what Malfoy did to him.
At quite an early age of thirteen, Gareth had only one mission in life. To kill the man, no, the boy, who killed his father. To deal him the same kind of death he had dealt his father.
Images of his childhood began flooding back. How he saw his father's army approached their home... Gareth had searched for his father's horse in the midst, but he never found it. When he came down, his father's soldiers presented to him the head of his father, decapitated and impaled on a staff.
A note was nailed on his father's head. It was covered in blood, but was still readable. The handwriting was shaky, almost as if the note was made in anger and fury.
It read:
'Madigan Durant falls... and so will the rest of Durant. Every life slain will be for my father's. I will not stop until the last of Durant blood falls on the ground.'
Gareth had read it and his eyes fell on the last piece of the note on the lower right side of the paper. He knew he would never want or crave death until he saw to the demise of the one who killed his own father. The note was signed by Draco Malfoy.
Gareth snapped back to the present, his hands clenched at his sides and his whole body bursting with anger. He cursed Malfoy.
He killed my father, and every single Durant in the whole of France! Gareth thought angrily as he looked out of the window and watched as the black of the night began to slowly fade. It was morning. He continued his train of thought. And they [the people] do not even hang him for his crimes! They do not avenge my family's death! They praise him and cower before me!
He pushed off the window ledge and glanced at the map of France he had spread on his desk. His eyes rested on Brittany for a moment before sliding over to Aquitaine.
Gareth had attended the wedding of Emil de Gervais and Olivia Haven without them knowing that a Durant was in the midst. No one had suspected, especially Draco Malfoy.
He smiled evilly. It was one tactic of war... to know your enemy before he knows you. And to know what he holds dear so you can take it away from him. His smile quickly turned into a scowl when he thought about what Malfoy held dear.
It had been so easy... He simply posed as a distant relative, even gave her a fake name. She obviously did not know anything much because if she did, she would have known that there was no such person as Sir William of England.
Gareth recalled their conversation. She had been polite, but Gareth knew that any advances towards her would be futile, because she dearly loved Draco Malfoy.
He took a few deep breaths before turning back to the window and saying:
"I want to kill the man who murdered my father. I want to take away what he has, and crush it in the palm of my hand. I will take away his only weakness, his source, his being and use it against him. I will have you Lady Hermione - I will take you away from the man who truly loves you for who you are and what you mean to him."
* * *
Spring had finally settled in after a few more weeks and Hermione was never happier to be back in Draco's garden, tending to the plants and flowers while he went on with the training of his soldiers and such. Hermione placed that paper at the back of her mind.
It was not hard to forget about it really. Who would think about a piece of paper when you had the man of your dreams kissing you senseless every time you two were alone? If not kissing, then looking at you with that intense stare that looked right through you and into your soul...
It was during one spring afternoon that shattered it all. Draco and Hermione were in the sitting room simply talking when a soldier arrived, bearing news for Draco.
Draco spoke with the man in hushed tones, but Hermione instinctively knew what they were talking about. When the man left and Draco sat back down on the couch, Hermione asked him on impulse, never minding the consequences.
"It's about Durant, isn't it? He's planning something." Hermione said. Draco looked at her, shock and confusion on his face.
"How do you know about Durant?" He asked levelly.
Hermione took a deep breath before reaching down under her gown and pulling out the piece of paper she'd always carried in her chest. With shaking hands, she gave it to him. She couldn't look at him after that.
Draco took the paper and unfolded it. His eyes read over the familiar lines and his blood began to boil. He looked straight ahead.
"Where did you find this?" He asked, his voice as cold as ice.
"Right here... when it was still used as a storage room." Hermione answered in a soft voice.
"So you knew about me... about this... for-"
"More or less four months. I know." Hermione interrupted.
There was silence. Then Draco rose up.
"Draco?" Hermione called just as he stood up. His back was towards her and he was breathing in what seemed to be deep and calming intakes of air. "I'm-"
"Stop." He said harshly. His hands were clenched at his sides and he was shaking. "Just stop. Don't lie to me anymore."
"I did not lie, Draco." Hermione said, standing up as well and laying a hand on his arm which he shrugged off.
"You did." He answered, looking back at her. Hermione's eye started to water at the anger evident on his face. "You kept this whole thing from me..."
"I didn't know how to ask you... I meant to ask you, Draco. Please..." Hermione pleaded.
"Be quiet." Draco said. Hermione shut her mouth with a snap. It took a few moments before Draco suddenly stalked out of the room. Hermione quickly followed and grabbed his arm.
He stopped. But the look he gave her made her want to cry. And the words he said after made her want to die.
"Get out. Leave. I don't care anymore." Draco said before walking out into the hall and making his way towards his room.
"Draco...!" Hermione called after him. She felt powerless to stop him and weak to follow him. She sank down on the floor and placed her head in her hands.
After a few minutes of uncontrolled sobbing, she made a decision. Getting up quickly and going to her own room, she planned to heed what Draco had ordered her to do.
She would leave him. She did not know where she would go... or what would happen to her if she did. She didn't care anymore.