Full Moon
(2)
"Fucking go! Leave!" Draco Malfoy yelled in frustration at Hermione who was a few feet away from him. They were both injured and panting hard.
Hermione looked down at a body she had just stupefied; a young man with messy black hair and stunning blue eyes. He wore a Slytherin grey sweater, making the whole situation more unbearable. He was one of them. The dark side. He had tried to attack her while she was helping Ginny get off the cold stone floor.
Hermione now looked up towards Draco, who had appeared from no where awhile ago. He had continuously told her to leave as she battled her way threw Death Eaters and the like. It wasn't the thought of him warning her to leave that made her so angry, it was just the essence of him; the essence of Draco Malfoy prancing around her so dangerously close advising her to leave when he could easily kill her. She was never convinced about where his loyalty lied even when he helped her curse a few death eaters a long the way.
"I am not going anywhere you prat!" Hermione spat at him. She looked away to help Ginny, who was hopping on one foot; the other being sprained.
"Would you just listen to reason? You could die here," Draco yelled behind her.
Hermione ignored him as she headed off towards a marble staircase leading to the second floor. They were at Hogwarts and the thought that there was a battle going all over the castle was just too much for her mind to process. She wanted to bring Ginny to safety and find Ron who had told her to stay behind and barricade the entrance of the school. She prayed to Merlin that Ron was still alive, fighting for Harry, for the right side and most importantly for the safety of the students. Her heart accelerated just by the mere thought of Ron being dead. Do not think negative, she scold herself. But would that really change anything? What if Harry and Ron were both dead by now while she and Ginny frolicked around as though they had the time to do such things? Time was a valuable thing.
As she walked step by step, in a painfully slow motion, tears almost escaped when she saw bodies of students either dead or alive unconscious on the floor. This was supposed to be a safe school. This was supposed to be her alternative home. Her comfort. But now, it was nothing but a battlefield. How did things get so out of hand?
"Listen Granger, you really need to leave. Potter isn't going to win this battle. So get out while you can!" Draco insisted.
She didn't understand why he was still attempting to persuade her. Harry Potter was her best friend and he depended on her just like she depended on him to finish off Voldemort. Hermione and Ron had helped him prepare for this last fight; this face off with the darkest wizard. They were ready. They had been for months. And no silly little Slytherin hoping for redemption was going to change any of it.
"Malfoy, leave me alone! You've helped us and we thanked you. You didn't have to follow us here and you didn't have to join the fight against Voldemort, so get lost!" Hermione yelled; the tears she tried to hold back earlier skidded down her red hot cheeks. Not wanting to see the expression on Draco's face, she turned away.
Ginny winced and Hermione remembered that her hearing had been amplified when she was hit with a spell. Hermione had tried to take the spell off but that didn't change the fact she was still a bit weary when people spoke so loud.
"Sorry Ginny," Hermione whispered.
"It's fine. Let's just go get Ron and find Harry," Ginny said with a tired smile. Ginny's eyes were glistening, also holding back tears. Hermione understood and just nodded her head without saying a word.
They reached the second floor while a pair of silver eyes settled on their backs. She knew Draco was watching them from the first floor. She somehow felt guilty for being so harsh towards him and she couldn't fight the urge to look back at him one last time. But the moment she had, she wished she hadn't. Because in that moment, a cloaked Death Eater approached Draco from behind and stupefied him before Hermione had the chance to even open her dry mouth.
"Draco!" Hermione screamed but it had been too late. The Death Eater gave Ginny and Hermione a wide smirk as he pointed to the ceiling and caused the foundation to break. Hard cement immediately landed right on top of Draco's rigid body. She knew at that moment there was no way he could live through that.
No way in hell.
"Malfoy?" Hermione whispered as she waited for reassurance that it really was him standing before her. But he didn't reply. He looked down as his hood covered the rest of his face in darkness.
"Malfoy, is that really you?" Hermione quivered. The silence was enough to answer her question. It was really him, wasn't it? She didn't know how to react to this news. Hermione, along side Ginny, had been the last two people who have ever seen Draco Malfoy. Before his last words and before that treacherous death. But this had to be some sort of illusion or a trick. This was impossible. How could he have been dead for four years and suddenly be alive again? How?
Hermione stepped closer, not fearing her safety any longer. The silence was killing her. She took hold of his hood and slowly pulled it off. She stepped back in utter shock. There was Draco Malfoy, clear as ever. His piercing grey eyes staring back at her with such boldness. He had a dark scar across his left cheek that appeared to have been stitched. And his once straight platinum blond hair was short and messy. He was Draco but at the same time, he wasn't. He seemed different. Hermione couldn't put her finger on it.
"How—how is this possible, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, searching his eyes.
"Believe me, it's possible," he finally spoke in almost a whisper. His defenses seemed to have disappeared.
"But how?" she asked, "I saw you die. I saw you."
"But you didn't do anything, did you Granger? You didn't give two shits," he spat.
"No...There was nothing I could do under the circumstances. I figured you couldn't survive the cement flattening you. Especially when the ministry found your body and claimed you dead." There was a long silence. Hermione didn't know what he was thinking or what he could possibly say next. Everything was moving around in a whirl wind in her head. This was absurd. If the dead could walk again, there were so many people Hermione would love to see again. Like Dumbledore, her Hogwarts Headmaster for the six years she had been there.
"While all of this is very lovely, reminiscing about the past and all. You really must go now," he said monotonously.
"Don't do this," Hermione said shaking her head. "You clearly know that I will not just drop this case and you know that there's something going on here. I'm going to find out. So stop hiding information from me and just be straight with me."
"Bloody hell! I'm really getting fucking tired of this. My patience is running at on all time low right now. I have no answers for you. What I know is not more than you already know. But if you are smart enough, than you would leave."
"And you? What of you? Why are you here?"
"That will remain anonymous. It is not any of your concern."
"Than we have a problem Malfoy. You refuse to answer my questions and I refuse to leave."
"I assure you, I can easily solve this problem."
"By threatening me again? What good would that do? Would you really harm me?" Hermione challenged.
"There are other methods," he replied with a dark smirk as he took a step toward Hermione. Instinctly, she took a step back.
Suddenly, Malfoy clutched his chest again and began to breathe heavily. She watched his face scrunch up in pain. Hermione was starting to doubt his health. What was wrong with him? Where had he been all these years? Was he in good shape? Hermione doubted that last question. If he was, he wouldn't be wincing every time he made a move. Something was seriously wrong with the picture.
"Malfoy, your hurt. What happened to you?" she asked in a concerned tone.
"I'm fine. I just had a little accident a while ago. It will heal soon." he responded reassuringly.
"Maybe you should go get it checked at St. Mungo's."
"I said I'm fine," Draco gritted his teeth.
"You don't look—"
"Shut up for fuck's sake."
"Why are you being such an ass? I'm trying to help here."
"Don't help. Just leave."
"I witnessed your death once before and I'm not going to allow myself to have it happen again," she said sternly. Draco kept silent for a few seconds. She didn't know whether she was pushing his line of patience but she couldn't risk leaving him here in a forest where unknown things have happened before. He was injured after all; he couldn't defend himself because he looked like he would collapse any second. She could almost see the sweat rolling off his forehead in pain and frustration.
"Okay Granger. I'll come with you. But only if you won't come back here."
Hermione didn't like this one bit. She was not about to let go of the one place that held the clues to the mysterious killings. But the look in his eyes was just as determined as hers. Maybe there was something he knew that she didn't, after all he seemed so strong-minded about her not returning to this forest. Could she get anything out of him? Like where he'd been all these years? And how in the hell he survived such a fatal disaster?
"All right. I won't come back here. But you will let me see the results of your check up from a certified healer," she stated.
